Oh, Crap
by Goddess369
Summary: Malik and Ryou and messing around with their Millennium items, when something screws up and they land in ancient Egypt? Who will they meet, and how will it work out? Story improves much as chapters go on, Rated for later chapters
1. Prologue!

Hello all yaoi fans! I just wanted to remind you that while this is my first fan fiction, I'm not going to be devastated by criticism, if I even get any lol (-.-) Tell me whatever your thoughts and feelings are on this story, and I'll do my best to please you, savvy? Savvy.

Alright, here is a list of names so you won't mix up the hikari from the yami:

Malik hikari

Marik yami

Ryou hikari (as if you didn't know)

Bakura Thief King

Now, they aren't actually yami/hikari in this story, that was just so you now know who's who! The pairings are (in case you already forgot) Malik/Marik and Ryou/Bakura

Ok so I don't really think there's much else for me to type, so any questions are welcome, let's get this started then

Malik , an average teen to the untrained eye, was sprawled out on his bed, completely bored out of his mind.

"Aaauuugh!" He groaned, "I have nothing to do!" He rolled onto his back. That remained entertaining for 0.5 seconds. He sighed and idly held up the Millennium Rod, pointing it at the ceiling for no reason.

The school year had ended last Friday, a week had passed, making it Friday all over again. Malik had gotten over the thrill of being out of school again; after all, he would just have to go back next year. Oh well. At least next year he would be a senior, along with Ryou.

What was Ryou doing anyway? He was probably at home, curled up in a blanket on the couch in front of a fire or movie, sipping hot chocolate, not falling asleep for fear it would ruin the carpet.

Malik chuckled at his friend's state of mind when it came to cleaning, a mind frame he seemed to share with Isis, too. Isis always was a neat freak, having Ryou and his tidying of everywhere made it not so hard to miss her and Rishid. They had both gone to Egypt, missing their home land.

But Malik was happy here, where he had friends, friends who forgave him for his acts in Battle City, something Malik regretted, but not too much. I mean, come on, was it really his fault his rage as a child had caused him to track the pharaoh down and try to claim his position? Or kill his father, for that matter. His father was the true cause of all this anyway, how dare he give Malik those horrible memories, hour after hour of carving into his back something Malik had never wanted anyway.

Why the hell would Malik want the Pharaoh's memories on his back, why not just wait for him to comeback and then let HIM lie on the bed, having to be tied down, no one caring about your screams of pain and fear? Then he could just look in a mirror the best he could instead of having Malik come over, turn around and hold up his shirt every time he wished to see the marks again. Not that he had ever done that to Malik, but the possibility of 'if' was a rather powerful one.

Of course Rishid would have gladly taken Malik's place at the initiation. His father was too blind to see how badly Rishid had wanted to be considered his son, to be officially part of the family, to spare Malik pain and grief. Malik loved Rishid dearly and would always consider them brothers, even though Malik had pushed him to the side during Battle City.

He couldn't help it, he had been waiting so long to be Pharaoh, to teach Atemu a lesson; it was like Malik was high from the rush he felt every time he struck fear into the friends of the Pharaoh. It was almost beyond his control, his need for power was making him blind to the people he cared about most, his family. He and Ryou had even become friends while Malik was 'Namu'.

Malik chuckled yet again at the foolishness of Yugi's friends, how easy it was to gain their trust, how willingly they would have let him into their inner circle. Of course Malik had laughed at them all behind closed doors. Although he sometimes felt bad since he truly did consider them his friends now.

As Yugi said, the past was behind them. During the final duel Malik had finally come to terms with everything, realizing just what he was doing he stopped the duel, forfeiting. Afterwards all had been forgiven. Malik grinned, they had come so far since then; it had been an entire year. They had all changed, Malik the most though. He was much happier than he'd been in a long time. Ryou wasn't so shy around him anymore, too, they were best friends now.

Malik was snapped out of his thoughts by a crack of lightning, it'd been raining since around 3 pm, it was now was 8-ish. Malik giggled childishly at being frightened, if only for a moment. Give him a break, it didn't storm much in Egypt, he was still getting used to it!

"I wish Ryou were here." He said absentmindedly, jumping at the sound of the door bell.

Speak of the devil.

Well, I hope you guys are interested, I promise it get better than this! & by the way, I didn't intend for Malik's thoughts to get so dark in the middle of it, he's really very happy and kawaii in this thing, so if you got the impression he's all anger control, he's not, I was just in a weird mood so I made it like that. & of course it's short, I mean come on it's just a prologue thing, the actual chapters will be longer I swear.

So I hope I get reviews, I don't really expect any, but oh well, if no one likes it there's no point in continuing it is there lol? I'll probably do the 1st couple of chapters with or without reviews anyway, just in case. Hope to hear from you!


	2. Getting There

Thank you Keely for reviewing!

Here is the 1st official chapter, I don't really care for the babbling of other authors so I won't bore you with it, but I hope you enjoy the chapter )

Malik jumped at the sound of the door bell.

"That was weird, who would come in this weather?" the Egyptian wondered aloud, heading downstairs to see just who came to call. He walked to the front door and pulled it open. It revealed a soaking, smiling Ryou.

Malik simply stared at his companion for a moment. In a few minutes Ryou's smile disappeared from his features and a waiting look was given, "Are you going to move?"

The corner of Malik's lips cracked; slowly he began laughing at the person in the door way, "Hey Ryou, hahaha you're all wet..."

Ryou looked at the other incredulously before rolling his eyes and gently pushing him to step inside. Malik just went on giggling as he shut the door and Ryou wrung his hair out over the sink in the kitchen.

"How did you get here?" the Egyptian asked, receiving a small grin from Ryou, "How else? I ran like hell the last three blocks." Malik smirked, "I thought you would hate getting your precious hair wet."

Ryou scoffed, "I think you fawn over your own hair much more than I do. Besides, it's movie night, or did you forget again?"

"Forget is such a strong word, Ryou-"

"Perhaps, but it gets the point across, doesn't it?"

"Well we can't all be elephants like you."

"What?"

"You know, an elephant never forgets!"

"Very funny."

"I thought so too."

Ryou rolled his eyes before fetching a bag of popcorn, "What do you want to watch?"

Malik made a face, "I don't really wanna watch anything, why don't we go out ad do something?"

Ryou grinned, "Because it's now 8:23 pm and there's a _storm_ going on outside. That's why."

"We could always wear ponchos."

Ryou just shook his head, taking the popcorn from the microwave, "Maybe some other time, Malik. For now we have to find something else to do since _you_ don't want to watch anything. Suggestions?"

"Not really."

"Anything at all?"

"Well, I have always wanted to screw you senseless."

Ryou smirked, "I know, I know."

Malik giggled, "Well if you don't want that I guess I'll just have to eat something." (By the way they ARE just kidding) He walked over to the freezer and opened it, pulling out a huge tub, "Ice cream!" He took two spoons, "C'mon, I wanna go upstairs."

"Why?"

"So we can hear the storm better!"

It was beyond Ryou as to why anyone would want to hear it _better_, but this was Malik, so that helped it make sense. He giggled too and followed the other up the stairs and into his room. He looked around, the walls were tan and the bed was crimson. He liked it. He guessed it made Malik think of Egypt.

"What are you thinking about?" Malik asked, giggling afterwards. His sugar high was already setting in, "Well it doesn't matter, hey you're _still_ wet, do you want some of my clothes?"

Ryou too realized he was drenched, "Yeah, I guess, do you have anything normal?"

Malik chuckled and shoved another spoonful in his mouth, "Define normal."

"Normal as in the clothes won't hug you to death and show everything to the world."

Malik tried to frown, it didn't work, "My clothes do not hug you to death, besides, you know they're sexy."

"Clothes aren't what make _you_ sexy."

"No. But they sure do help Hehehe…Come have some ice cream Ryou!"

Ryou grinned, "Let me find _clothes_, first, I swear your attention span is horrible Malik…"

"Like I care."

"Yes, I know, now be good and eat your snack." Malik obeyed happily while Ryou began looking through drawers and the closet, "Too tight, too high, too flashy, too revealing, No, no, no, n-, where do you even _put_ this?"

The young albino sighed; he and Malik's taste in clothes were completely different. Suddenly a beam of energy shot past his head, hitting the wall. Ryou must have jumped three feet and screamed two octaves higher than usual. He turned around to see an alarmed Malik, holding the Rod like a life line.

Ryou glared, "What the heck was that for!"

Malik turned to him, just noticing how mad he was, "There was a spider! It was big and black and hairy! I just killed it." More laughter escaped him, although Ryou seemed to see nothing funny.

Malik was about to eat more when a blast of energy shot towards him and knocked the spoon from his hand and to the floor below. "Holy shit!" he yelled, waving his hand up and down from the heat, "Ryou! Why did you do that!"

The other teen simply smirked, "Serves you right, scaring me to death because of a spider."

"At least I can aim! You could've blown my arm off!"

Malik glanced down at the spoon; it was deformed, twisted and seared from its abuse. "How am I going to eat ice cream now?" He looked and saw Ryou's spoon lying next to him, "Yay!" But as he reached for it another energy beam blasted it, resulting in the same form of the first.

"_Ryou_!" He whined, glaring at giggling Ryou.

"Who says I can't aim?" the owner of the Millennium Ring grinned proudly.

Malik ignored him and redirected his glare to the window, "I'm sick of it raining!"

"What are you going to do about it?" Ryou asked skeptically.

"_We_ are going to put our heads together and make it stop!"

"We?"

"Yeah! It'll be fun Ryou, we have millennium items! We can do anything!"

"Isis wouldn't approve of this."

"Isis never approves of anything! Now come on!"

Malik hopped off the bed and came next to Ryou, taking out the Rod, "Hold the Ring up!"

Ryou rolled his eyes and did as he was told, "This is ludicrous."

"It is not! Now hush and, um, take my hand with your free one, and close your eyes!"

The millennium symbol lit up on both items, Malik began chanting…

"Oh, great Gods, please hear our cries! For too long we've been inside and, watched the endless flow of your tears! Help us bring it to an end, mighty Ra, save us from…..this forsaken hell hole!"

Malik opened his eyes and looked out the window. It rained even harder. He turned to a smirking Ryou, "The endless flow of your tears?"

The Egyptian scowled, "I was improvising, alright?"

"Some improvising."

"It was great improvising, and back to earlier, I can aim better than you."

"That conversation was like fifteen minutes ago!"

"So? It's true isn't it?"

"Of course not."

"Would you like to prove that?"

"This is so childish. --"

"Ryou's _scared_…."

"I am not."

"Then let's play a game."

Ryou was almost completely fed up with Malik's ego, "Fine, since apparently the great Malik can see none of his faults I'll just have to show him. What's the game?"

Malik grinned, "Hold on, I gotta think of one." He looked around the room for inspiration, when he saw a fly. His grinned widened, "Whoever can kill that fly first is the winner. If I win you have to do my laundry for a week, Ryou."

Ryou's eye twitched, "Very well, and if I win, you have to take that week long cooking class I've been telling you about, and you can't bring the rod."

Malik grimaced, "Fine, we don't have turns, this is open fire! On your mark, get set, shoot!"

They began taking shots at the poor insect, who was doing his best to avoid the beams of light coming at him.

The energy blasts went this way and that, left and right, up and down, bouncing off walls. They didn't affect Malik and Ryou since they were the ones sending them out. But in all the confusion and laughter from the two teens, they didn't notice two blasts, each coming from the other item, bounce off the walls, into each other, off their original item, through each other and into the opposite item.

Suddenly both boys started falling, the bed no longer there, nor was the entire room for that matter. They were falling next to each other in a never ending vortex of swirling light.

"What's happening!" The white haired teen asked, clinging to Malik for dear life.

The Egyptian just shook his head, "I don't know! Something must have happened!"

"Where are we!"

"If I knew that I would have told you!"

Ryou looked down, "Oh my God…."

"What?" Malik looked down too, they were approaching two holes, a few yards apart from each other. Malik felt himself being pulled away from Ryou, he looked up to see that they _were_ being pulled away from the other, each headed for a different hole. Ryou's hands stayed in his, "What's going on!"

"I don't know!"

"Please don't let go of me, Malik!" Ryou had started crying by now.

"I'll try…"

Malik couldn't concentrate, he felt like he would throw up from the spinning colors, and trying to keep hold of Ryou while he could feel pressure on all of his body to let go. Ryou's cries became softer until it sounded as if he were standing far away. His strength was being drained fast, he couldn't keep this up.

Muttering something about being sorry, Malik slowly let go of Ryou's hands, and let himself be drawn to the circle that seemed to choose him as his body let go of consciousness………

Next chapter will most likely be longer since I'll finally be to the main part of the story since I'm done with the first introductions and such. Let me know what you think about it!


	3. What did you just say?

Thank you Mewchoochoo and MyAgent'llSendYouAGiftBasket for reviewing!

'Mwt' 'mother' (pronounced 'mewt')

Well I think it's time to get started ;)

A pair of pale eye lids slowly opened, revealing cocoa-brown irises. Ryou Bakura moaned, his head feeling like someone had been driving a nail into it. He shut his eyes in an attempt to make it stop. It didn't work.

'_Where am I?_' He wondered, opening his eyes once more. It took a moment for everything to come back into focus for him. He wasn't in Malik's bedroom anymore. The last thing he remembered was playing that stupid game with the fly…? Ryou tried remembering more as he squinted, he vaguely recalled falling, Malik too, and now he and Malik were separated because he didn't see the said boy anywhere.

In fact, he didn't even recognize anything; much less know where Malik could be. He took in his surroundings. It was a fairly small, square room with one bed, which he noticed he was lying on. There was also a sort of night stand and one window. Ryou sat up, how had he ended up here?

Before he could dwell on the matter a door he hadn't noticed opened. He glanced up to see a little girl with tan skin and black hair look at him. She suddenly grinned, and shouted excitedly in a language Ryou could not understand. This bothered him greatly.

She ran up to him, smiling as if she made a new discovery. Ryou couldn't help but smile himself, she was cute. She couldn't be more than seven years old. She giggled to herself, making him confused, when he suddenly felt cold. He looked down to find that he had only his black boxers on. Ryou blushed heavily.

Again she spoke in the same language, but to him instead. It sounded like a question, but he had no idea what it could have been. He remained silent. After a few seconds the girl's smile was replaced with a confused frown, she tried asking him again.

This time Ryou looked confused, and the girl's frown remained. She pointed to herself, "Nathifa." She put a hand on Ryou's chest and waited.

It all of a sudden clicked for Ryou. She wanted his name, right? He pointed to himself and said, "Ryou."

The smile had found it's way back to her. She opened her mouth to speak again but someone else then came through the door. This time it was a middle aged woman, Ryou guessed her to be Nathifa's mother. She wore a simple dress like her daughter.

She came over and handed Ryou his clothes, they were dry again. He nodded to her and gratefully put them back on.

Nathifa pointed to her mom and said "Mwt." The woman smiled at him and asked Nathifa something; she pointed to Ryou and answered rapidly. Their conversation went on for a while. Ryou sighed, fear and doubt starting to take over as he wondered what he had gotten himself into…

Malik was running in the open desert, because someone was running after him. He couldn't tell who because they wore a lavender cloak. He wanted to hide, but there was nothing but sand. Sand and the blistering sun he had been so used to back in Egypt.

As he tried to run it seemed like the person was only getting closer, and he was getting slower with every step he took. Then Malik started hearing weird things, "Hello? Can you hear me? Wake up!"

Malik wondered what on earth was going on when he felt himself being shaken. He figured out that the person had finally caught up with him and was responsible for this. He tried shaking wildly, wanting to escape. His vision was blurry, he couldn't keep the other off him, he couldn't escape…

"Stop..."

"Be quiet. He's waking up."

Malik's eyes shot open, realizing he had just been dreaming. But when had he fallen asleep?

He couldn't think about that at the moment though, there were strange men around him. Malik noticed he was lying on a floor made of white alabaster stone. It felt cold, contrasting with the warm air.

"Where am I?" He asked, receiving looks that clearly told him the other men did not speak Japanese. Then he observed their features, they all had shades of tan skin with black hair, almost as if they were Egyptian…

"What did you say?" The leader asked. Malik's eyes widened, they were Egyptian!

He cleared his throat, speaking his native tongue this time, "I said, where am I, and how did I end up on the floor?"

"That's exactly what we were wondering. I was on my daily patrol when I found you sprawled out right here, passed out. What are you doing in the palace?"

Malik furrowed his eyebrows, the palace? He then took in their clothing; they all wore a white skirt type cloth down to their knees, leaving their upper body bare. He thought for a moment, "Is there a pharaoh in power right now?"

The men laughed at his question while the leader looked shocked, "Of course there is a pharaoh! How could you not know this?" He then eyed Malik suspiciously, the said boy swallowing as he asked, "Are you a foreign spy? Here to take down our beloved pharaoh?"

Malik weakly shook his head.

"Then just who are you?"

Malik hesitated, "I'm Namu. Namu Ishtal."

"Care to tell me what you're doing here, _Namu_?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Well, I'm sure the _pharaoh_ would be a bit more persuasive than I can at the moment. Come on."

Malik was pulled to his feet, having no choice but to follow the leader. What was with him? First the guy was concerned for his well being, and then he suspected Malik of spying! Still, in his 21st century style of clothing, he was probably a bit prone to sticking out. But how did he get there in the first place?

He looked up at the guard in front, "What pharaoh is in current power?"

"Pharaoh Atemu."

Malik stopped in his tracks, only to be pushed along by the guards behind him. Atemu? The only thoughts going through his head when he heard that was '_Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit shit shit!_'

"Is it absolutely necessary we go to him?"

He only received a smirk in response, "Not so confident now, are we?"

"It's not that, it's just, well, he's the _pharaoh_, so doesn't he have too much work to be disturbed right now?"

"Actually, he's taking a break today. Now stop asking questions, his highness does not take kindly to people who don't know when to shut up."

Malik would have burnt holes into the back of his head had he been given that ability. He reached down, only to discover that his Millennium Rod was not in its usual place in one of his belt loops. '_That makes sense,_' he thought, '_I'm not in my own era anymore, the Millennium items belong to different people here. Which means the rod would go to…Seth, the high priest…shit._'

He was led to a huge set of double doors, the leader pushed one open. He grabbed Malik's arm, signaling for the other men to go about their business as if nothing had happened.

Malik scowled at this sudden restraint, but otherwise showed no signs of complaint. He scanned the area. It was the throne room, apparently, and it was enormous. Malik thought the room was larger than necessary. It was probably for intimidation since this was the first room you see when you visit the palace, if you come through the front that is. The floors were the same alabaster, with magnificent columns which helped hold up the ceiling.

'_That ceiling must weigh a ton…' _Malik thought absentmindedly. There were high priests chatting in random areas of the room, but they now turned their full attention to the newest arrivals. Malik recognized Isis and Seth immediately. To the others he paid no heed.

On the wall to his right sat the reason he had been dragged here, Pharaoh Atemu. He was much more impressive in his days where his word was law, rather than in the present where he was merely a reincarnation of something once great. His eyes were amethyst and crimson combined into one iris, very intimidating in its own way. He was much tanner too, his gold jewelry added nicely to his features.

Malik looked down at his own gold arm bands, great; they would probably accuse him of stealing as well! He could here them discussing it shortly afterwards, '_Yes, we found a no-good thief today' 'Indeed, did you see his clothes? Any idiot would know he is a spy!' 'Well he's not very good, is he? He was caught within two hours!' _The young boy rolled his eyes; he would have to come up with a story quickly.

His current oppressor pulled him along until they were both standing in front of Atemu, who had been sitting at his throne and talking to an old man. Malik made a mental note of the man looking exactly like Yugi's grandfather. He nodded to his pharaoh and scurried off. Malik vaguely wondered where he was headed.

Ryou was no longer afraid, though he undoubtedly missed Malik's knowledge of the Egyptian language. At least, he thought it was Egyptian they were speaking. He had heard the mother and daughter using phrases that were familiar to Ryou, when he remembered hearing them come from Isis and Malik's mouth in previous conversations.

'_Malik even offered to teach me Egyptian, but noo I told him I didn't need it!_' Ryou scolded himself. This family was nice enough. The mother had checked him over for injuries and Nathifa had brought him water.

That had been about three hours ago, since then he had tried playing with Nathifa. The most they could say to each other was their name, but it didn't keep them from having fun. Suddenly he heard her mother call out. Nathifa looked at Ryou's confused face and pointed to the window, showing him it was well past dark. She then pointed to the bed and acted like she was sleeping.

Ryou grinned and did as he was told, much to her delight. She helped pull up the covers excitedly, Ryou held back his chuckle. She walked to the door and waved to him before departing.

Ryou sighed; he couldn't stay here long because he had to find Malik. It was obvious he wasn't in his own era anymore. Their lack of medical knowledge and appearance in general told him that. Could that mean he and Malik had somehow come back 5,000 years into Egypt?

He knew Atemu would have killed to be able to come back. For Ryou it was fascinating, but he'd rather stay in the 21st century. He hadn't tried going outside because quite frankly he wasn't sure he could handle whatever was out there. But, again, he couldn't stay. He would have to leave and start his search for Malik tomorrow.

The albino then remembered he was still wearing his clothes. He absentmindedly got up from the bed and stripped down to his boxers before getting in bed again. He sighed once more, the bed felt very nice. Soft and warm, like his bed at home. Ryou closed his eyes, telling himself he wouldn't fall asleep, of course, our body rarely listens when we tell it anything…

Malik glanced at the sitting pharaoh. He had to remind himself not to be disrespectful to this Atemu, he was the real deal. He was a real pharaoh with real power and real authority to have him dead with one word. Or worse.

Atemu took him in with his eyes, "What is this about, Ptolemy?" The question was directed at the leader. Even his voice was smoother than at home.

"I was making my daily rounds and I saw this boy passed out on the floor. I believe he is a spy."

An eyebrow raised on the pharaoh's face, "A spy?"

"Yes."

"Yet he was passed out on the palace floors."

"I don't know how else he could have gotten in here without being seen. Besides, look at his clothes!"

Malik looked down; he was wearing black jeans, regular shoes, and violet pull over. He glared at 'Ptolemy', "And just _what _is wrong with my clothes?"

Atemu cut in, "You're obviously not Egyptian because of your attire, yet you also wear kohl and the right jewelry. That is what's wrong for Ptolemy. So what are you exactly?"

Malik cooled down, "I am in fact Egyptian, your highness."

"What is your name?"

"Namu, sire. And I bought these clothes from a stand right here in the market place."

"I see. Who sells such a style?"

"I know not their name. But these were one of a kind anyway so it matters not." Malik desperately hoped Atemu bought this load of crap.

Atemu smirked; Malik didn't know what at, "Fair enough, Namu. Would you like to tell me why and how you came to be in the palace?"

"I…don't know."

"You don't know." He had a way with repeating whatever the last person said. Malik guessed it was to make the other unsure of his or herself. However, Malik had dealt with him before, the pharaoh just didn't know it. Malik continued his lies.

"I was walking home when I saw a blinding light and passed out. Your guards woke me up here in the palace. Have I been kidnapped?"

"Not to my knowledge, Namu. But what was the blinding light?"

"I have no idea, it came out of nowhere."

"My pharaoh," Isis stood the side of them, "This could be the boy I saw in my vision. The one I told you about yesterday?"

Crap. He hoped he wasn't that boy. If he was, it probably meant he wouldn't be set free. They would feel the need to find out everything about him. This meant they would find the marks on his back…

"Namu."

Malik looked up at Atemu, having been in his own set of thoughts. "Yes my pharaoh?"

"Would you mind taking off your…shirt, and turning around?"

Malik stood there a few seconds before answering quickly, "Of course not." He yanked his arm away from Ptolemy and slowly lifted his shirt over his head. He was even slower in turning around.

He tuned them out as they discussed his back. In a moment he felt Atemu touching it, running his finger tips over those dark, fine lines.

Malik gasped, not from the contact (he had expected it), but because his thoughts had finally drifted to Ryou, whom he had forgotten until this point. How was he? He couldn't be any better off since he didn't even speak Egyptian. Yet Malik couldn't help but smirk, '_I did offer to teach him…_'

"_Namu_."

Malik jerked his head up and turned around again, almost jumping at how close the pharaoh was standing, "I'm sorry." Great. That's the second time he's drifted off! Now they surely thought he was an absentminded little fool.

Atemu merely chuckled, "Its fine. I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that you are the young man in priestess Isis's vision."

Malik felt a lump form in his throat, he cleared it, "That's great, but what does it mean?"

Isis replied, "I don't know yet. I only knew a mysterious boy with writing on his back was coming to the palace soon. I didn't realize how soon it meant."

Atemu nodded, "Namu, we'd like you to stay here until we figure out why you've been brought to us. Can you do that?"

Malik nodded.

The pharaoh searched the room for a moment, "You! Take Namu to his room."

A servant quickly came over, "At once, sire." He motioned for _Namu_ to follow him.

Malik did so, hoping Atemu would give his shirt back some time soon.

Review pretty please! This would have been longer, but it just seemed like a good stopping point, so until next time! Oh, and Marik and Bakura will most likely be introduced to the story next chapter


	4. Madani and Billah

Well, last time you were introduced to pharaoh Atemu and Isis! Isn't that exciting? However, this story does not happen to be about them, they are but minor characters right now. I think you'll meet the other major ones this chapter! Whoo yeeaahh!

**PS: I'm changing 'Marik' to 'Mariku'**, why? I like it better Muahaha )

Other servants stared at Malik as he walked down the halls of the palace. "What's your name?" he asked the one he was following.

"I am Nasab, sir."

"I don't need formalities. Just call me Ma-Namu."

"Manamu?"

"No, sorry, I was yawning when I said my name. It's just Namu."

That was close. Malik couldn't have people knowing his real name. Of course, Ryou was most likely giving his name out to every stranger in the hopes of finding him. He grinned and unconsciously shook his head.

Nasab stopped at a door, Malik almost ran into him.

"This is the guest hall. The pharaoh is currently entertaining no one else, so you don't have to worry about hearing the sounds of people coming from other rooms."

Something about Nasab didn't strike well with Malik. He seemed very sly, like a fox or a snake. He opened the door for Malik and stood aside. Malik muttered thanks and walked inside. It was a nice room. There was a big bed, a wardrobe, a couch and matching chairs, it even had a balcony.

"Will you need anything, Namu?"

"No, I'm fine. Thank you, Nasab."

He nodded and left, leaving Malik to have a joyful time of sorting out his hectic thoughts.

Two men sat staring each other down. One had wild platinum blond hair while the other had pure white. They were sitting on either side of a table, both leaning over and watching the other intensely. A waitress stood before them with their drinks, knowing not to interrupt when they were like this.

Finally, a few moments later, the blond's eye lids came down and closed for a fraction of a second, coming back up immediately afterwards.

Crimson eyes flashed in triumph, "Ha! You blinked! I win, Madani!"

Madani glared, "I did not!"

Both turned to the waitress.

She grinned at Madani, "Sorry, sir, tonight was not yours for the blinking contest. Billah won."

Billahsmirked, "Of course I did. Which means Madani will be paying." The waitress put the drinks on the table and left them to their endeavors.

Madani rolled his eyes and took a sip, "You were lucky. That was a one time win."

Billah dropped his voice so only the other could hear, "You're such a sour loser, Mariku."

A snort was heard, "As if you're any different. I think you're worse. If I won you'd still be sitting there sulking."

"How fortunate for you to lose, then."

Mariku chuckled, taking another sip. Bakura was the most arrogant little bastard he knew, yet he wouldn't have it any other way. Besides, he had done some things right after all. No one knew what the great Mariku and Bakura, Kings of Thieves, looked like. Therefore they could afford going out in public without a cape or disguise, just a false name.

Mariku chuckled again. He loved being able to fool the pharaoh.

By now Bakura had already drank his first glass and was on his second. Mariku winced; he couldn't hold as much alcohol as Bakura and still remain sober. Oh look, there went Bakura's second glass. Mariku shook his head, his bangs swaying with motion. Didn't Bakura eventually puke it all out-?

"Master Madani, Master Billah." Mariku looked up to see Nasab, a spy he and Bakura had sent in to work as a servant at the palace. He reported back to them at this same tavern every two weeks to let them know what was going on.

"Sit down, Nasab." He instructed. Bakura looked up from his glass, waiting.

Nasab did as he was told silently.

Bakura grinned, "So, what are they planning this time, burning every city? Killing every child? War with Nubia?" In Bakura's eyes, pretty much everything they did in the palace was idiotic.

Nasab smirked, "No, not this time Bakura. Sorry to disappoint you both, but things have gone very smoothly these past two weeks. Pharaoh Atemu is very pleased with his empire. However, the most peculiar thing happened today." He gave Mariku a look.

Bakura was on his fourth glass and no longer listening, feeling let down by his spy's news.

Mariku ignored him, "What happened that seems to amuse you?"

Nasab continued, "That fool of a guard, Ptolemy, found a young man whom he claims to be passed out on the floor. He accused the boy of being a spy, but that was impossible since I have never seen him before…necessarily ..."

"Necessarily?"

"The peculiar thing about him was...he looks almost exactly like you. When they first brought him in I thought that perhaps you had been captured. But his hair isn't so wild, and he's smaller than you. Maybe a year or two younger."

"Well, if he looks like Madani, he must be hot as hell." They both looked to Bakura, from which the comment had come. Mariku gave him an odd look, not sure whether his partner in crime was still sober.

Nasab continued, "He was quite the little minx. I don't think you would get him in bed that willingly though. He seemed very tense."

Mariku's smirk widened and got a psychotic glint in his eyes, "Does this boy have a name?"

"He claims it to be Namu Ishtal."

"Of course he was lying. No one gives their real name to the pharaoh."

"I suppose our great pharaoh bought it?" Bakura asked.

"I'm not sure. Atemu is a bit wittier than you give him credit for, Bakura. Isis says she saw him in another vision of hers. He has the pharaoh's memories engraved on his _back_."

Bakura's eye twitched, "How unfortunate for him."

Mariku felt excited, which was usually what happened when he was going to seduce someone who didn't want to be seduced, "Billah, I want to see him."

Bakura grinned over his fifth glass, "Good. I'm rather curious myself."

Nasab stood up, "I better get back."

Mariku stood as well, "We should go too, _Billah_."

Bakura glanced up with a distasteful look, "But _Madani_…Fine. You're dismissed, Nasab."

Nasab nodded and was about to leave when Mariku told him, "Nasab, go ahead and come back tomorrow night to report as well."

Nasab just nodded again and left, followed by the thieves, each going in different directions.

"What do you wanna do now?" Bakura asked.

Mariku shrugged, "I don't know…how about we go see Nathifa?"

Bakura looked highly excited, "Yeah! We haven't visited in two weeks!"

"But she's probably in bed by now."

"So? We can just spend the night and surprise her. Haniya won't mind. She adores me."

"What about me?"

"………She likes me more."

"Namu."

Malik slowly woke up to see the pharaoh sitting next to him on his bed, "Atemu? What're you doing in my house?"

Atemu raised an eyebrow, "Your house? Namu,_ you're_ in _my_ palace."

Malik shut his eyes, the memories of yesterday coming back to him, "Crap."

Then he remembered he had only boxers on. "Eep!" He exclaimed, pulling a large pillow to himself and sitting up.

Atemu chuckled, "Don't worry; I wouldn't rape you or anything. I suppose those… undergarments… were one of a kind as well?"

"Yes. Yes they were. Why are you here? What time is it?"

"The sun has been in the sky almost hour now. And I'm here to talk about you."

"Oh. Atemu, I mean pharaoh, I don't think I deserve to stay here. I think I'd rather go back home and let you get back to your regular life."

"Oh? Do you have things to attend at home?"

"I have a step brother, Ryou. He's probably very worried about me."

"How old is he?"

"We're both 18, I'm a few months ahead of him though."

"You're close?"

"Very. In fact, he doesn't talk to many people besides myself and vice versa."

"What if we brought him here? Do you have any more family?"

"No. Our parents live in Nubia. I was home sick so Ryou came to live in Egypt with me."

"How thoughtful."

Malik smiled, "Yeah, Ryou's a really thoughtful person. So may I go?"

"You may go and bring him here. Is that alright? Isis is very bent on knowing why you were in her vision."

Malik nodded, "Sure, but it might take me a day or so. Ryou's probably in some random inn searching for me. He always did worry too much."

Atemu smiled, "Very well. You may go and fetch him next week. Until then, I would like you to feel free to wander the palace and just get used to us."

"I don't want to be a burden."

"You won't be."

"An entire week without Ryou?"

"I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself whether he's here or not for one week."

Malik hesitated; did Atemu suspect him of his lies? If he did he wouldn't be letting him go find Ryou at all, right? "You trust me after that man said I'm a spy?"

"Of course I do. Ptolemy can be ruthless at times, but he does his job well. Isis trusts you, and she never trusts anyone until they give her reason to. So I think it's safe to give you a chance. Now I will leave you to get a bath. Do you need someone to run it?"

Malik shook his head, "I can manage. Thank you."

The pharaoh nodded and left the room.

Malik sighed and rushed to the bathroom, feeling suddenly very sick.

"Ryou!" Nathifa giggled helplessly as the said boy tickled her, she had said something after 'Ryou', but he had no idea what that was. She had pounced on him in his bed early that morning, waking him up from a pleasant dream. Therefore he had to punish her somehow, and this seemed like the best way at the time.

"Nathifa! Ryou!" They stopped and looked up at Nathifa's mother, whose name Ryou discovered was Haniya. She smiled at them and said something to her daughter. Nathifa hopped to her feet, her face very excited.

She turned to Ryou and helped him up, saying something to him and pulling his arm. He guessed it meant to follow. He had understood another word besides 'Ryou' that time, and that other word was his last name, Bakura. He didn't remember telling them his last name.

Ryou just shrugged it off and put on his jeans before following them through the hall way. He'd have to leave that room some time, anyway.

"Did you hear laughter?" Mariku asked, sitting on a couch. Bakura shrugged, "Nathifa is constantly giggling."

"But she wasn't with anyone."

"She's with Haniya."

"Before Haniya went to get her."

Bakura scowled, "Does is really matter? You fret over little things far too much, Mari-"

"BAKURA!" Bakura looked in the direction of the sound before being tackled by a little girl.

"Nathifa!" He grinned and picked her up, spinning around once before setting her on his shoulders. She giggled with delight and played with his hair, "I missed you Kura! I haven't seen you in _forever_!"

The two chatted happily about random subjects; Mariku would've joined in had it not been for the boy standing in the doorway. What was he doing here? Mariku had never seen him before, or anyone so pale for that matter. He was timidly standing with his arms crossed, looking at Bakura and Nathifa's display.

He looked shocked out of his mind, and Mariku couldn't blame him. He and Bakura each had white hair, and he was willing to bet neither had seen their hair color on someone else before. Except perhaps very old people.

Of course Mariku had already heard that he had his own look alike awaiting him at the palace, so it wasn't quite _as_ surprising. This boy's hair was longer and more flowing than Bakura's. He had brown eyes that reminded Mariku of a sad kitten, gentle and submissive.

He caught Mariku's eyes for a moment, looking even more shocked, before blushing and looking back to Nathifa.

"Ryou!" Nathifa said. Bakura looked confused. She pointed at Ryou, and said his name again. Bakura followed her gaze, his eyes widening when he saw who she was looking at.

Nathifa motioned for him to come forward. He obeyed, taking a few small steps. She pointed to Bakura and said his name.

Bakura looked up at her, "Can he not speak, child?"

She shook her head, "Ryou can speak, but he speaks a different language. Mother doesn't know what it is, so she told me to use sign language and he'll learn Egyptian faster."

Bakura grinned, "How very wise, Haniya. You should have warned him some way that we were here, he looks scared of us."

She scowled, "The poor thing is probably terrified of someone with hair like yours."

"His hair is just like mine!"

"But Ryou's hair is so _soft_, just ask Nathifa."

The little girl nodded, "Ryou's hair is very nice. Like Mariku's."

Mariku held in his laughter at Bakura's sour expression, "Well, maybe if you brushed your hair more often-"

"It hurts when I brush it!"

"That's because you never do."

Bakura shook his head, "Whatever, so why is this Ryou here? Where did he come from?"

Haniya answered, "We found him lying in the sand, completely unconscious! Of course Nathifa has pity on all of Ra's creations, so we brought him inside. I wish we could have a normal conversation with him, though."

Ryou had the sneaky suspicion they were talking about him (since he heard his name every few sentences), making him retreat back to his original spot.

"I want on Ryou's back!" Nathifa ordered, waving Ryou over again. Ryou nearly died of anxiety when he saw Bakura walking towards him. Bakura merely smirked at his reclusive behavior, going behind him and setting Nathifa on Ryou's back.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he held her up and giggled, "I luv your hair, Ryou." Suddenly she gasped, "It smells good too!"

Ryou blushed at the intense attention Nathifa seemed to bring wherever she was. Haniya walked over and leaned close, grinning, "I've never smelt that scent before, I wonder what it is."

Mariku smirked again, "I think Bakura is tired of the subject of hair. So what do you think of mine? Is it as nice as Ryou's?"

Bakura would have flipped him off if Nathifa weren't in the room.

Ryou pointed to Mariku and gave Nathifa a look of questioning. She looked at him and said "Mariku."

Ryou thought, this man looked so much like his best friend, but he was not. He looked much colder, and Malik's hair would probably never stand up _that_ much. There was also something that made him look more mature than Malik, yet at the same time less mature.

Ryou sighed, he was home sick already. The guy named Bakura came up to him, very close, he seemed to be inspecting him for whatever reason. Maybe it was his hair?

In a few moments Bakura gave Ryou his personal space again, "Do you want to learn Egyptian?"

Nathifa grinned, "He can't understand you, Kura."

Bakura sighed, "_Do you_ – he pointed to Ryou – _want to learn_ – he nodded and pointed to his head – _Egyptian_ – He took his hand and acted like he was pulling things out of his mouth while saying this word - "

Ryou stood there a few moments before nodding his head very slowly, a stupid, goofy grin taking over. Bakura smirked, "Very well then. Mariku and I shall begin teaching him as soon as possible. And Ryou's first lesson will start…now!"

Mariku suddenly pulled him to the side, "Bakura, I want to see _my_ look alike."

"Relax; you'll have plenty of time for that later. Mariku, this boy is gorgeous, and I want him."

"You don't even _know_ him"

"Well how can I if I can't talk to him?" Bakura gave his huge puppy eyes full blast.

Mariku gave him the world's dirtiest look but in the end gave in, "Fine you ass hole."

"Oh stop it, I promise I'll help you find your twin soon you narcissist."

"Hypocrite."

"May I help teach Ryou?" Nathifa asked pitifully, but the white haired thief shook his head, "I need you to help your mother with regular chores, ok?"

Nathifa made a face.

Mariku chuckled and relieved Ryou's back of the little girl, "If you do as Bakura asked I'll bring you back something special from the market, sound good?"

She nodded and went into the kitchen.

Haniya frowned, "I'm not sure if you two be a good influence on him."

Bakura looked shocked, "My dear Haniya, I promise all doubts you have will soon vanish when he knows Egyptian better than whatever he speaks right now. So stop worrying!" He gave her a light push towards the kitchen, "Now hurry, your daughter is waiting."

The mother just shook her head and walked into the kitchen as Bakura said, muttering something about Ryou's entire vocabulary being nothing but curses and insults…

--------------Four Days Later (Day 6)---------------

"Isis!"

Priestess Isis turned around to see Namu running towards her.

"Yes?" She asked when he finally caught up, then added, "I like this look much better than the one you presented yourself in five days ago."

Namu wore a simple knee-length white skirt (well not a skirt but you know what they wore then) and sandals. He was also adorned with the same kohl and neck/arm bands. Namu now showed off his back everywhere he went.

He just sighed, "Atemu's the one who won't let me wear my other clothes."

"Well, this looks better on you anyway."

"Thanks. Can we take a walk outside?"

She nodded and led him out the doors to the garden.

They kept on the stone path leading to the pond. They had talked everyday on this path so far.

"So how are you?" Namu asked.

"Since this morning? I'm fine, thank you." Isis smiled. During the last five days Namu had spoken to her the most. She usually didn't like getting close to people, but with Namu she didn't mind. She wasn't attracted to him like some of the servants thought; she had started thinking of Namu as a younger brother.

"I hope I haven't been a nuisance to you."

"Not at all, Namu."

Namu. Isis didn't like the way it rolled off her tongue. The name didn't suit him. Of course she knew there had to be things he kept secret. Those clothes could have never come from Egypt, and Namu often acted tense around Seth, especially when he had the rod out. She would have to ask why sometime.

They had reached the pond. Namu had said it was the prettiest thing about the palace, surrounded by exotic plants, flowers, trees, Isis supposed it was rather nice. She had often seen the pharaoh walk around here.

Namu took a seat on the grass, Isis followed suit. They sat there for a while, Namu looking at the sky and Isis looking at Namu.

"What's troubling you, Namu?" Namu would usually be teasing her about random things by now.

He sighed and looked to her, "Isis, I trust you. Do you trust me?"

"Of course. Is there something you need tell me?"

"Yes. But I don't know if I can because I don't know if this is the same you."

She looked at him incredulously, "What on earth are you talking about, Namu? I'm the exact same person I was yesterday, you silly boy. Don't say such nonsense."

The grin came back to his face, "You are the same then. Good. Because I have a lot to tell you, Isis, but I need you to not tell anyone, including Atemu."

"Of course. Most of my conversations are kept confidential anyway."

"This may explain your vision. I don't know."

"Just go ahead."

Namu looked deep in thought, "Alright, to start things off, my name isn't Namu Ishtal."

"I suspected this."

Malik smirked, "I knew you would."

"What is it then?"

"Malik Ishtar."

"I like that much better. It suits you. What else?"

"I'm Egyptian, but I'm from Japan. Isis, I'm not even from this era, I'm from the 21st century, 5,000 years into the future!"

Isis said nothing. She needed a moment to take this in.

"Isis, I promise I'm not lying. I could never lie to you. You always catch me."

She chuckled, "I do believe you, Malik. But how on earth did you end up here?"

"…Well, I think it all started with a game called 'zap the fly'…"…

Hehe, that's it for now! Every chapter seems to get longer and longer doesn't it? Well I hope you liked it, may I have some reviews pretty please? I'll luv you forever ) The next chapter will have Ryou and Malik finding each other again! But there will be much more than that, so stay tuned! Ja ne!


	5. Reunited and it feels so good!

Let's see, first of all, I'm not too fond of this chapter, I know what I want to happen, it's just making it happen, ya know? & I think I could've done better making it happen. Oh well. I've edited, deleted, and rewrote stuff in here a thousand times, so hopefully it was for the better, ne?

**Sand Dancer**: Thanks for enjoying my story

**KittyBlue**: I'm pretty sure Ryou's only 'bad words' are in Japanese lol ;)

**Mewchoochoo**: I adore Bakura being all kawaii! It's so funny! .

Last time you met Mariku and Bakura and got acquainted with Isis! & By the way this is still the 6th day so Malik isn't scheduled to go after Ryou until the 8th day

Hmm, I don't think I have anything else to say so enjoy this chapter :)

Oh wait, yes I do "

"**Blahblahblah**" talking in Japanese

"Blahblahblah" talking in Egyptian

-----------------------------

Malik took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He just finished trying to explain to Isis exactly why he was here, and he thought he did a rather nice job. Isis's face seemed to tell him otherwise.

"Ok, just…let me digest this and know I have it right."

When Malik only nodded Isis went on, "You and Ryou are not related any way but you are best friends. You're both from the 21st century which is five thousand years away from here and you lived on an island called Japan. You're from Egypt originally and I was your sister. I am your sister, right?"

Malik smiled, "You'll always be my sister, Isis."

She smiled back and kept going, "Ryou is from a place called Britain and is very pale. The people might not take kindly to him because of that, Malik."

"Everyone takes kindly to Ryou. He's the gentlest person ever."

"So you were both playing a game in your room when a huge hole appeared and you fell into it. You kept falling until there were two holes, and you believe you and Ryou were each pulled into a different one?"

"I passed out before I knew, but yeah."

"You were also the possessor of the millennium rod."

"Yes."

"So that's why you seem to convulse around Seth."

"I don't convulse."

"Fine, you don't convulse. You twitch."

"Whatever! Back to the subject of the portal."

Isis frowned, which worried Malik, "What is it?"

She looked at him again, "Malik, if Ryou went into another hole, what makes you think he's in Egypt also? What if he's in an entirely different time zone?"

Malik sighed, "I know he's here, Isis. He couldn't be anywhere else. I have to find him and bring him here so we can go home."

Isis nodded, "Yes, I suppose your instincts are more credible than my reasoning. I'll help you find a way to reverse what has been done."

Malik couldn't fight his urge to hug Isis, which she happily returned, "I don't know if I could cope without you, sister. You and your annoying reasoning."

She laughed and pushed him away, "I have other things to do now. Do you feel better?"

He nodded.

"Good. Now you can actually relax. Is Egypt very different in five thousand years?"

Malik's eyebrows went up, "Oh yeah. Everything is."

"Well, now you can enjoy your time here while I find a spell of some sort. I want you to not worry about it, I'll handle everything."

"Sounds good to me. And don't forget that I'm Namu."

"Of course."

Malik stood up and helped Isis do the same. They began walking back to the palace when Isis shoved Malik to the ground, "First one inside wins!"

Malik simply lied there while she started running, but in a few seconds he laughed and ran after her, all worries leaving his mind for now…

--------------Later That Day---------------

A young Egyptian stood in a hallway reading hieroglyphics on the wall. It was rather late into the night and it was dark. Malik could see fairly well though after spending ten years in his old underground home. He was glad that tomb keepers didn't even exist in this time.

Malik was concentrated very hard on one story and didn't notice someone watching him. He didn't notice until they tapped his shoulder, anyway.

Malik immediately jumped and spun around, only to see a chuckling pharaoh.

He sighed, "Sorry Atemu. What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep so I got up to take a walk and saw you. I was actually wondering the same thing."

Malik just shrugged, "I started reading at the other end of the hall and just couldn't stop."

"I see. It is a rather interesting story for someone who has never heard it."

"Yeah."

They stood there in silence, both staring at the wall. Minutes later Atemu finally broke the silence, "I saw you with Isis by the pond again."

Malik felt his stomach tense up, "I enjoy speaking with her."

"She usually keeps to herself, but it looks like she's made an exception for you."

"Yes, Isis is very mysterious around people who don't know her well."

"Then I suppose I don't know her well. Are the rumors true?"

Malik looked confused, "I didn't realize there were any rumors…about what?"

"About you and Isis courting each other."

"Courting, as in dating?" Malik laughed, "No, I only think of Isis as my sister."

"Oh, that's a relief."

"A relief? Why?"

Atemu looked hesitant, "Tell me Namu, do you believe it's completely unspeakable for one to be attracted another person?"

Malik smirked, "Isn't that how our parents made us?"

"To be attracted to another person of the same sex?"

Malik blushed, he realized Atemu could be gay but couldn't come out because he was the pharaoh, "Of course not. Love knows no gender."

Atemu actually looked surprised, "I would've thought someone like you would despise the idea."

Malik chuckled bitterly, "That's not what people usually think back home."

"So, you like boys?"

Malik realized how close Atemu was, they were standing about six inches away. He also noticed how much taller the pharaoh was here than 5,000 years into the future. Their eyes were now level with each other.

Malik became slightly uncomfortable, "Yes, I do…Why do you ask? Do you?"

Atemu said nothing, he only leaned forward; Malik didn't comprehend what was going on until he felt a pair of lips gently come in contact with his own. It only lasted a few seconds before Atemu pulled away.

"Good night, Namu. I hope I've answered your question." He left poor Malik just standing there.

It wasn't until Atemu disappeared around a corner did Malik lean against the wall and allow himself to slide down to the floor.

"We've to get home." He whispered desperately.

-----------------------------

The next day came, but Atemu acted as if they never even saw each other the night before. Malik was happy about that; it was less to worry about. So he just followed suit and acted the same towards Atemu.

Besides, he had to get focused on finding Ryou the next day. He couldn't afford to worry about unwanted relationships. All the same, Malik couldn't help but tell Isis about the previous night out in the garden earlier. She had been taken back thoroughly.

Malik guessed that being gay wasn't a very highly promoted idea in this era.

The day had gone by slowly, the way the last day of school usually does. It was finally dark and Malik now sat out on the rail that outlined his balcony. It was a long way down if he should fall. It made Malik feel excited. He was one move from dying, but he was comfortable so why should he bother moving?

Malik chuckled. The future Isis would be furious.

"Namu?"

Malik screamed and would've fallen from jumping again had it not been for someone catching him. He looked up to see that someone was none other than Atemu.

The pharaoh helped him up and they each stood there like last night.

"I'm sorry for frightening you."

Malik swallowed back his anger from being snuck up on again and only nodded.

Atemu cleared his throat, "You should be asleep. You have to go into the city tomorrow."

"I know. I'm just not tired."

"I know what you mean."

"Yeah…Do you wanna go inside?"

"Sure."

They walked inside where Atemu sat in a chair opposite to Malik's.

"Listen Namu, about last night, I shouldn't have done that."

'_No, you most certainly should not have.' _ "It's alright."

"It's not alright. I'm the pharaoh. I should have more sense than that. I hope we can still be on decent terms."

Malik nodded yet again, "Of course we can. You were just caught up in the moment, right?"

Atemu nodded to himself more than Malik, "I suppose I was. I'll go so you can rest now."

"Night Atemu."

"Good night, Namu."

They both stood up. Atemu turned and left, but not before he had turned again and given Malik a peck on the cheek.

-----------------------------

"Nathifa!"

A little girl came running into the living room, "What?"

Bakura smirked, "I told you to do regular chores with your mom, right?"

She nodded.

"Well, look what we have accomplished in the past week."

Bakura and Ryou were seated on the couch with Mariku sitting on the floor, leaning against it. He turned to Ryou, who was waiting eagerly.

"Hello, Ryou."

Ryou grinned, "Good afternoon, Bakura."

"How are you?"

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'm just great. Where are we?"

"We're in Egypt. Pharaoh Atemu is in power. His palace is a few miles from here." Ryou just went on saying random things that didn't matter until Bakura finally stopped him."

"I must say that I'm very impressed." Haniya chimed, having stood at the doorway.

Ryou beamed, "Bakura and Mariku are very good teachers."

"I think you're just a fast learner. Come help clean dishes, Nathifa."

"Ok!" They went back into the kitchen.

Bakura ruffled Ryou's hair, "You are a fast learner."

"Thank you."

Mariku grinned, "I don't know anyone who has become fluent in a new language in less than two weeks."

"Well, I've listened to my friend Malik before."

Bakura's ears perked up, "Oh? Who is this Malik?"

"My best friend. We were somehow separated and now that I know Egyptian I have to go and find him so we can go home."

Bakura gasped, "You can't go! You are home!" He pulled Ryou onto his lap and nuzzled his neck fiercely.

Ryou blushed heavily, "Bakura, this isn't my home or Malik's. He probably worried sick."

Mariku smirked, "What does Malik look like?"

Ryou grinned, "Just like you."

Each thief froze and stared at Ryou, who began playing with his new robe uncomfortably, "What is it?"

Bakura merely chuckled, "Does Malik ever go by the name of Namu?"

"He has before, do you know him?" Ryou looked hopeful.

Mariku started hitting his head on the couch repeatedly, "I forgot all about him…" He turned to Bakura, "Nasab told me he was planning on looking for Ryou tomorrow!"

Bakura rolled his eyes, "You forgot about that this entire week?"

"We were busy teaching Ryou."

"You barely did anything."

"You wouldn't let me!"

"Why does it matter now? Just get him tomorrow."

"Yes…I'll just get him tomorrow…"

Both albinos looked at Mariku apprehensively as he got that psychotic glint in his eyes again.

"Where is Malik?" Ryou asked worriedly.

Mariku chuckled, "At the palace with our dear pharaoh."

"Atemu? I wonder what he's like…"

Bakura snorted, "You don't want to know."

Ryou raised an eyebrow and looked at Mariku, "How do you know who Malik is, anyway?"

The thieves shared a look; Bakura changed the subject, "So you will bring Malik here, Mariku?"

Mariku nodded, "Yes, I can do that." Moments later he had a look like a light bulb just went on above his head, "And when I do, how would you like to come and stay with us? At our home?"

Ryou sighed, "I don't know, I need to go home with Malik."

Bakura pouted, "Can you think about it? Just stay for a liiiittle while?"

Ryou blushed. Why would Bakura want him here so badly?

They sat in silence, Ryou thinking over the proposal. He couldn't possibly stay; he and Malik might be messing up time already.

The more Ryou thought about it, though, the more he belonged right where he was. The people were much friendlier here than back home, he knew because Haniya had sent him to the market with Nathifa two days ago. He had watched for Malik but didn't find him. None the less, he had a good time.

There was also a certain someone Ryou had been thinking about constantly, and that someone would be Bakura. Ryou really liked Bakura, but he knew it wouldn't work out. Besides, why would Bakura ever consider him that way? Ryou was nothing special, but still, anything could happen, right?

Ryou also now knew where Malik was and that he was going to search for him tomorrow, but wait, how did Mariku already know that?

"Mariku, are you and Bakura spying on the palace or something?"

Bakura sighed, "Ryou, I promise to tell you everything about us when we're…alone."

Ryou smiled, "Good, you can tell me when we reach your home because I'd enjoy being in Egypt for a while. As long as Malik is safe that is."

Bakura nodded, "Of course he'll be safe, Mariku will bring him here and you'll finally be together again."

Mariku nodded.

Ryou frowned slightly, "I'm not sure if Malik will want to stay as much as I do."

Mariku smirked, "That won't be a problem."

Ryou's grin returned, "Fine. I'll go."

Bakura smiled widely and nuzzled his pupil's hair, "Mmm your hair is soft Ryou…"

The said albino smirked, "Yours can be too. Let me brush it."

Mariku spun around upon hearing this, eyes huge in anticipation. Bakura frowned but hesitantly nodded his head. Before he was done doing that Mariku had ran to Ryou's room and back to them with a brush in less than 2 seconds, "Nathifa!"

She came in again, "Yes?"

He chuckled, "Come sit in my lap, child. You know how you've always wanted to hear Bakura scream like a little girl...?"…

--------------The Next Morning---------------

Malik's horse was galloping toward the Golden City, just a few miles outside the gates of the palace. He hadn't had time to talk with Isis again. Atemu hadn't given him a time limit, something Malik was thankful for.

He had worn white baggy pants today. It made it easier for riding. In a few minutes he reached his destination, this place was huge! How could he possibly find Ryou in all this? Well, he was the palest thing to walk on this planet so it was that much easier. Malik silently thanked Ra for putting them in a place where Ryou stuck out.

He rode around for a while, asking random people if they knew anyone named Ryou, to which they all answered no. By midday Malik began to think that he would never find the other.

What if something happened to Ryou in the past week? Malik forced the thought out of his mind, if Ryou was dead, would the future be the same way it was before they came? What if Malik died while he was here?

The sun had set hours ago, by now Malik had gotten past the rich parts and was in the more middle class area. He sighed and stopped at a random inn, it looked decent enough. It would be pointless to keep searching this late anyway. He got off the horse and tied him to a pole so he would stay there until morning.

When he walked inside he expected to get stares from everyone, instead they acted as if no one had even come through the door. He just rolled his eyes and sat at a random table in the corner.

Moments later a waitress greeted him, he expected her to ask for his order and that was all, but she smiled at him and said, "Hey Madani, where's Billah?"

Malik was about to call her crazy when she bent down and touched his head, "Did you smooth down your hair too?"

"No, Lotus, I still like it the way it is, thanks."

Malik looked up to see another guy. He wore a purple cloak and had the hood on. '_Just like my dream_…'

But when he lowered it Malik that they looked just alike! Malik's jaw dropped and the waitress looked confused.

The other man just chuckled, "I'm sorry Lotus, let me explain. This is my little brother, Namu. I asked him to meet me here. Billah is currently…in bed with a hang over and I didn't want to come here alone."

She just let her eyebrows rise and fall in understanding, "Alight then. So what do you two want?"

Mariku sat across from Malik and ordered, looking to Malik to do the same.

Malik's jaw had never come back up; he looked to Lotus, "I'm not hungry. My horse needs water though."

The other just chuckled and told her to bring Namu whatever the most alcohol filled drink was. She grinned, nodded and walked off.

Malik turned back to Madani, "Who the hell are you?"

Madani laughed, "My name is Mariku, but I would appreciate it if you wouldn't go shouting that out."

Malik frowned, he had heard that name somewhere, but he couldn't place it. "Alright Mariku, what the hell are you doing here? Did you follow me?"

Actually, Mariku had been following the other since that morning, but as if he was going to tell him that. Wouldn't want to scare him off too soon, right?

"I come here regularly, and you just happened to be at the table my friend and I usually get. You have nerve to talk to me like that. Or you're just stupid. Either way I'd love to bed you." Mariku looked him over and winked.

Malik shuddered slightly, "I'm afraid I won't be here long enough to take you up on your offer."

Violet eyes flashed, "So if you were here long enough, I would be getting laid in the very near future?"

Malik smirked. He would usually lose his temper with guys like this, but for some reason Mariku intrigued him, "You're very cocky for someone I just met."

"So I've been told."

"I guess you're just naturally that way."

"I must be."

Lotus had returned and given them their orders. When she left Malik asked him, "Who is Billah anyway?"

Mariku chuckled, "My partner in crime."

Malik guessed he meant that figuratively. If only he knew how wrong he was.

They sat in a nice silence a few minutes, when Mariku suddenly said rather bluntly, "I know where Ryou is."

Malik, who had been taking a drink, almost choked to death, "What!"

Mariku smirked and leaned over the table, "I know where your friend is, you are the one looking for him, right?"

Malik nodded before scowling, "So that's the only reason you wanted to talk with me?"

Mariku's smirk became a grin, "Of course not. I really would love to bed you."

Malik blushed, "How do even know I'm gay?"

"Happy?"

"No, that I like guys."

"I have my ways of telling."

"So where is Ryou?"

"At a friend's place."

"A friend's place? Have you kidnapped him?"

"No, he's there on his own free will. Billah is with him."

Malik smirked and leaned over the table as well, "That's not his real name, is it?"

"Why should matters like that concern you?"

"I'd like to be sure that Ryou is in good hands if you know what I mean."

"I know what you mean; do you know how I perceived it?"

"I'd rather not know."

"That's most likely for the best. So shall I reunite you and Ryou?"

"How do I know this isn't some set up for you and _Billah_ to rape me or some other scheme?"

"I don't know. Do you trust me?" Malik had no idea how much Mariku wanted to rape him on the spot.

"…Yes."

Mariku sat back in his chair again, "Excellent. We can leave tomorrow."

"Why not now?"

"Why not tomorrow?"

Malik pouted to himself, "Fine. Tomorrow, but we have to leave early, alright?"

"Fair enough."

-----------------------------

Malik had stayed in one of the rooms with Mariku just across the hall.  
He had awakened just after sun up and gotten ready, Mariku waiting for him at the head of the stairs. They walked down together and left after paying.

They could ride side by side since there weren't many people in the streets. They spoke some along the way, mostly arguing about who was better looking and who stole who's look. Mariku claimed that since he was 20 while Malik was only 18 he had had the look two years longer.

Mariku then suggested, rather grimly, that they might be related. Malik merely laughed and said that it was impossible. Mariku was happy to just leave it at that.

Malik had forgotten about not getting attached to anything here. He was having fun now.

After riding about half an hour, Mariku at last stopped in front of a house among many others, "This is it."

Malik jumped off the horse and ran inside, not bothering with tying it up. Mariku grinned and did it for him.

Malik stepped inside the door to see Ryou playing some type of game on the floor with a little girl.

"Ryou!" In a flash Malik had ran and tackled Ryou to the floor with a huge hug.

"**I missed you sooo much, Ryou! You have no idea!**"

Ryou grinned, "**I missed you too, Malik, now get off me so I can breath!**"

Malik heard chuckling above him; he looked up to see his look alike and a man standing next to him. The man had Ryou's hair.

Mariku turned to the other, "I wonder what they're saying."

Malik stood up and helped Ryou before he smirked, "We were talking about how ugly you are."

Mariku didn't have a chance to think of a come back because Nathifa chose that moment to announce her presence by tackling Malik. Malik, not expecting this, fell to the floor, the little girl straddling him.

"Hi, Malik! Ryou told me you already know Egyptian so I don't have to worry about using sign language anymore!"

Malik looked at her incredulously, "Ryou, did you have a child?"

The said boy blushed, "Of course not, Malik! This is Nathifa; I've been staying with her and her mother, Haniya. They found me outside and took me in."

"Ryou, you're talking as if you're an orphan." Malik said, and then noticed Nathifa trying to get him to sit up. He obliged, she happily stood behind him and played with his hair.

"So who has the best hair?" Bakura asked.

Nathifa took a few minutes to think, "Ryou's hair the softest, Mariku's hair has the best style, Bakura's hair is the most entertaining, and Malik's smells the best." She proved this by taking a big whiff of it, smile plastered on her face.

The smallest smile and tint of pink appeared on Malik, "She talks like a professional. So does anyone wanna tell me what's happened this week without me?"

Nathifa hopped up and down rapidly, "I can!"

Malik smirked, "Oh really?" He lifted her over his head and into his lap, "Then start talking." She giggled and began her long speech of what had happened that entire week.

--------------About three hours later---------------

"…And then you got woke up and I think you know what happened after that, right?"

Malik chuckled, "No, I have no idea."

"Well, you started shouting to Ryou so I knew you were here but mom made me wait a few minutes and-" Malik covered her mouth with his hand, "Yes, Nathifa, I remember what happened after I woke up."

When he removed it she asked "Then why did you say you didn't?"

Mariku turned his head away to hide his laughter and Ryou shook his head, "Malik was just kidding, Nathifa."

He turned to Malik and scowled, "**More like being a smart ass to a little girl who doesn't know the difference yet.**"

Malik simply hugged her, "I'm sorry Nathifa, I wasn't aware that you would take me seriously." He stuck his tongue out at Ryou.

Bakura had fallen asleep within the first hour of her story.

Malik examined him and smirked at Ryou, "**I think I know why you stayed here the whole time now.**"

"**Please, Malik, I could've stayed for a number of reasons. I needed to learn Egyptian, I helped look after Nathifa-**"

"**Ryou, you're blushing horribly.**" Malik said, silencing Ryou, "**We need to leave now.**"

Ryou looked shocked, "**Nani!**"

Malik gave a quick glance to Mariku before turning back to the other, "**Isis is here, she was a priestess, remember? I told her everything, Ryou. She's probably searching the palace right now for the right spell to get us home.**"

Ryou shook his head, "**I don't want to go. Can't we stay just for a little while? Not long, Bakura and Mariku wanted to show us their home.**"

Mariku asked, "What about Bakura and I?"

Malik sighed, "Nothing."

Nathifa had been sitting there, trying to follow the conversation even though that was pointless, "Why are you guys arguing?"

Malik grinned, "We're not arguing. We're discussing. And the final decision has been made."

Ryou looked down so he wouldn't show Nathifa how sad he was.

Malik got Nathifa to get up and stood up before continuing, "And the final decision is that we can stay."

Ryou's head snapped up, "What?"

Malik winked at him, "You heard me. **I still need to tell you what happened to me though.**"

He was about to walk outside when Ryou tackled him in the same fashion Malik had earlier, resulting in them landing on a sleeping Bakura.

Bakura 'oofed', being fully awake now. He looked down to see Malik and Ryou cuddling, though it looked more like a contest to see which one could squeeze the other hardest, "What in Ra's name…"

Haniya had been standing at the door way like usual, smiling at the sweet display. When Nathifa walked over to her she commented, "Well, I certainly hope everything works out for the best, don't you honey?"

She nodded, grinning at how sweet her new found friends looked, "It will, Mother, I know it will."

-----------------------------

Well I guess it was a nice ending, ne? Malik's still hesitant to stay, because how can they when Atemu and Isis are waiting back at the palace? Find out what happens in the next segment! Mucho luv guys!


	6. Atemu and Malik, sittin in a tree

Hello again Sorry for the drama the last two weeks or so. I promise to stick with this story until it's over. Thanks for all the support!

In the last chapter, Malik became a pimp ;) gasp Atemu is gay! gasp so are all the other main characters! Ok I'm now rambling, you're probably thinking 'Shut up and type, you idiot, I've waited long enough' Hope you enjoy it!

-----------------------------

The rest of the day had gone by rapidly. Malik had clicked well with Nathifa, already growing a soft spot for her. Also, having Malik around seemed to help Ryou's confidence, he wasn't quite so quiet anymore.

This had been no surprise to Malik, but the thieves were thoroughly astonished at how different Ryou became in just one day. But he was still rather shy around Bakura. Malik, on the other hand, had much fun exchanging insulting remarks with Mariku, knowing it was just for fun.

After some coaxing, they had convinced Malik to come to Mariku and Bakura's house the next day. Nathifa wasn't happy about Ryou and Malik leaving, so they pretty much spent the last half of the day playing with her.

Malik had yet to tell Ryou of the events that happened at the palace, momentarily forgetting about it. But by sundown it started nagging him at the back of his mind.

The house only had two bedrooms. Haniya and Nathifa shared one room with Malik and Ryou sharing the other. Mariku and Bakura, begrudgingly, shared the couch. Around the middle of the night Bakura's foot 'accidentally' shoved Mariku to the floor.

"But I don't want you to go, Malik." Nathifa turned on her puppy eyes, a trick she had learned from Bakura so long ago. It was morning now, and they were about to leave for Mariku and Bakura's place.

Malik tried turning away but found his eyes were glued to her face. It was times like this he wished he had a camera. Then he had a light bulb moment, "I'll be right back; don't move!"

He ran out the door. Everyone just stood there, waiting. Minutes later Malik rushed back in with something in his hand. He knelt down and gave it to Nathifa. It was a bottle. She just looked at him, confused, "What do I do with this?"

He chuckled, "Open it and smell."

She did so, gasping, "It smells just like you!" She smiled fully.

He nodded, "Now whenever you miss me you can smell it. It's what I put in my hair to make it smell like it does."

She nodded and hugged him again. A few moments later he pulled away and went outside, where Mariku was waiting. Ryou was still inside thanking Haniya for everything they had done for him.

"Where's Billah?" Malik asked, he and Ryou had been told to call them 'Madani' and 'Billah' out in public. Ryou had simply said ok, while Malik couldn't help but suspect this. He had a feeling it something to do with the fact that he couldn't remember where he had heard 'Mariku' and 'Bakura' before.

"I'm right here."

Malik must have jumped a mile high from fright, making Bakura start laughing. Malik glared at him, "Don't do that you asshole!"

Bakura only smirked, "I'll do whatever I want, _Namu_. Where's Ryou?"

"I'm right here."

Bakura jumped as high as Malik did, Malik began laughing just as the other had. Ryou blushed, "I'm sorry, Billah."

Bakura sighed, "Its fine. I just wasn't expecting that."

As this was going on Mariku had gotten on Malik's horse and was now waiting impatiently, "Come on, idiots!"

Malik turned to him, frowning, "There are only two horses. Mine and another one."

Bakura chuckled and got on the other one. "Namu knows how to count." He commented sarcastically, getting flipped off by the said Egyptian, who got smacked upside the head by Ryou.

"What's wrong, Namu? Don't you want to share with me?" Mariku put on a fake hurt look.

Malik rolled his eyes, "Yes, I want to share _everything_ with you, Madani."

He got on in front of Mariku, who whispered in his ear, "I'd like sharing everything too, Malik, two things in particular: one bed and lots of body heat."

Malik gasped, "I should push you off this horse right now you bas-"

"Are you two going to come on anytime soon?" Bakura asked in an irritated manner. Ryou was already situated in front of him, too.

He smiled at Malik, who smirked, "**I bet you're having fun, eh Ryou?**"

Before Ryou could deny it Bakura frowned and said, "No secret conversations in a different language, alright?"

Malik only smirked again, "**Ryou, tell your boyfriend that I don't take orders from idiots.**"

"**He's not an idiot!**"

"**Ah, so he _is_ your boyfriend? Is that how you got that blue robe?**"

Ryou blushed but frowned, "**Bakura is my friend and nothing more, _Namu_. Besides, you seem to be getting pretty close to Madani.**"

By now they had already begun riding.

Malik's eyes widened at the smirk coming from Ryou, "**I am _not_ getting close to Madani!**"

"**I think you are."**

"**Am not!**"

"**What about Nathifa? I know you adore her.**"

"**So? You do too.**" Malik sighed, "**I'm going to miss her.**"

"**You don't have to.**"

"**Nani?**"

"**Namu, think about this. We could stay here and be _happy_.**"

Malik scowled, "**Ryou, listen to yourself! We don't belong here, it's not our time! How can you talk like that?**"

Ryou smiled and looked around, "**Namu, I like it here. I like the people, the life style, even the land itself is beautiful.**"

"**Yeah, if you don't become lost in the desert.**"

"**Malik, must you always ruin serious moments?**"

"**It's Namu.** **And what's so bad about our own home?**"

"**You already know, I don't need to tell you. Japan was so stressful, everything is either you get an education, or you end up on the street. People would tease me about being gay; my father was never home anyway, how can you _not _like it here?**"

Malik glared, hard, "**Ryou…We have to go back eventually…**"

Ryou pouted, "**Can't you just think about it while we're here?**"

Malik's glare melted. He hated when Ryou got cute like this! "**I don't know, Ryou…**" Not being able to look at the other anymore, Malik turned away.

Ryou sighed, his features becoming sad instead of content. He hated disagreeing with Malik, but he also hated the thought of leaving here. What was so bad about here? Malik seemed to really want to go back, but why? Couldn't he see how happy Ryou was? How happy Bakura made him? Wait, how happy Bakura made him? Ryou blushed at his own thought.

He knew Malik was smitten with Mariku; Malik just couldn't get past wanting to go home to see that. But then again, Malik hadn't gotten around to telling Ryou what he'd been up to. Was there something wrong that Malik didn't want to share? Maybe Mariku was the one for Malik. Ryou smiled. Personally, he thought the couple would be very cute.

A small squeak escaped Ryou as he felt Bakura tighten his grip on him.

He heard the other chuckle and whisper, "What did Malik say to make you so distant, pet?"

Ryou blushed again. Pet? "Nothing, Bakura. We just…don't see eye to eye right now."

"I see. Is it about us?"

"Well, that's a small part of it."

"Anything I can say to make you feel better?"

'_How about 'I love you'?' _Ryou gasped, he had _not_ just thought that. He shook his head, "No, just the fact that you're concerned is enough."

Bakura grinned again. "It's gonna be a while before we get there, Ryou, why don't you take a nap?"

"I don't feel tired."

"Suit yourself."

"I will suit myself."

"Good."

"Great."

"Excellent."

"Wonderful."

"Terrific."

"Fabulous."

"Great."

"Billah, I already said that."

"…Shut up, Ryou."

Malik's glare melted. He hated when Ryou got cute like this! "**I don't know, Ryou…**" Not being able to look at the other anymore, Malik turned away.

What the hell was up with Ryou? Why didn't he want to leave as much as Malik did? Of course, Ryou didn't have a potentially love sick pharaoh waiting for him at that Ra damn palace, did he? Malik mentally scolded himself for not finding Ryou the moment he was alone, _before_ Bakura found him first.

What was so special about Bakura anyway? Besides his hair. Ryou's hair was like that too. Bakura was arrogant, egotistical, conceited, yet Ryou found something in him that Malik just could not see. But perhaps Ryou was a better judge since they had known each other longer?

Then there was Mariku. Malik unconsciously smiled. Mariku was also a little full o f himself, not nearly as much as Bakura though. But who knew. After all, Malik hadn't gotten a chance to _know_ him.

But he couldn't afford becoming attached, dammit! Malik wanted to go back, where Atemu was in love with Yugi and Ryou was fun and lighthearted. He never knew how much Ryou disliked his life. Maybe he didn't dislike it so much until he got a taste of how another life could be.

He then noticed an incessant tapping on his shoulder. "What is it?"

Mariku chuckled from behind, "I thought I'd never get your attention. What's up with you?"

Malik frowned, but leaned even more into Mariku, "Nothing. I'm fine."

"That sounded like an argument between you and Ryou."

"How could you tell if we were arguing?"

"Give me some credit, Namu."

"Alright, we were arguing. So?"

"What about? How ugly I am again?"

Malik rolled his eyes, "No, but good guess."

"Was it about me anyway?"

"Not very much of it."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Not really."

"How come?"

"I just…can't tell you." _ 'I wish I could, though.'_

"Is there something I can do to make you feel better?"

'_There might be a few things you could do. They involve a bed, a knife, and some rope…_' Malik mentally smacked himself for thinking that, "You could tell me what's up with Ryou and Billah."

"Fine. Billah wants Ryou."

"I kinda guessed that. I mean does he want anything more than sex?"

"I'm not sure; he's never been so…patient when it comes to that. Then again, Nathifa was around so I doubt Billah was about to try anything."

"He wouldn't rape Ryou, would he?

"I don't think so. Ryou's growing on him. I think he is anyway."

"Ryou grows on everyone. If he and Nathifa got together they'd be unstoppable."

"Then let's hope that they don't."

Malik felt tired. Getting almost no sleep last night was already catching up with him. He glanced over at Ryou to see him leaning against Bakura, his eyes half lidded. It was adorable. Malik would've smiled if it weren't for the yawn that randomly came.

'_Sleep is a good thing right now…'_ he thought, allowing his eyes to close, not noticing Mariku smirk as his body finally relaxed…

"Oh good, we were wondering who would wake up first." Bakura said, smirking slightly.

Malik had to squint until everything came into focus. He was lying on a bed with Ryou next to him. He sat up to see Bakura and Mariku sitting next to each other at the end of the bed.

"I win." Mariku said happily. Malik watched as Bakura begrudgingly put some money into his hand.

"Did I fall asleep?" he asked, stifling another yawn.

"Ding ding ding! We have a winner!" Bakura shouted, but not loud enough to wake Ryou.

Malik got off the bed and lazily walked over to the window. When he looked out, he had to look away and rub his eyes. Upon another glance, Malik saw that his eyes weren't betraying him.

"Since when has a forest been in Egypt!" he asked. Mariku and Bakura just gave him odd looks.

"It's always been here." Bakura said, "Why do you ask?"

Malik turned back to them. "Did Ryou ever tell you how we got here by any chance?"

He sighed when the other two shook their heads, "Good." He didn't think they knew since they didn't act like it. But they could still be keeping other stuff from him and Ryou, right?

Then again, Ryou seemed to trust them both, and why shouldn't he? Bakura and Mariku hadn't done anything to lose his trust. Maybe it was just the fact that they used a different name in public. Why would they give him and Ryou their real names? Maybe they trusted him and Ryou and this was their way of trying to gain their trust? ((too much 'trust' in one paragraph for me "))

"Earth to Malik!"

Malik looked up, "What is it?"

"Do you and Ryou just space out whenever you feel like it all the time?" Bakura asked.

Malik pouted. "Maybe."

Mariku shook his head and grinned, "I won't tolerate that when we're alone." He winked.

Malik looked at Mariku like he had grown an extra head, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Mariku shrugged, "Whatever you think it means."

Malik scowled, "Pervert."

Bakura chuckled, "Spare us, Malik, you don't exactly fit the part of the pure, helpless virgin."

Malik crossed his arms, "For your information, I _am_ a virgin."

"Honestly?" Bakura asked, giving him a skeptical look.

"Yes! Just ask Ryou!" What the hell? Why would Malik lie about something like that? "Just because you're probably a man-whore doesn't mean I am, Bakura!"

Bakura glared, "You take that back this instant."

Mariku remained silent as the two stared each other down. His partner in crime and his soon-to-be lover hating each other was not a good thing!

He then realized he was sitting in between them. Like hell it would stay that way! Mariku got up and leaned against the wall next to the door, away from both of them. Wait, what was that noise? Hallelujah! Ryou was waking up!

Ryou just lied there a few moments with his eyes open. So he had fallen asleep. Maybe he was more tired than he thought. He sat up and looked around. What happened while he was sleeping? Bakura and Malik were glaring and Mariku was smiling at him like he had just discovered that there was in fact another human being on this earth.

"What's going on?" He asked. His voice was a little more than a whisper.

"Ryou!" Malik snapped, making Ryou seem to shrink into the bed, "Isn't it true that I'm a virgin?"

Ryou nodded, wondering why Malik asked such a thing.

Malik's eyes flashed in triumph, "You see? I bet Mariku could name off at least ten people you've screwed!"

'_Well, I couldn't give you their actual names…'_ Mariku thought, not daring to say that aloud. He glanced up to see Malik and Bakura looking at him expectantly, both waiting for a different answer.

"What happened?" Ryou asked, louder this time. He would not have Malik fighting with everyone while they were here!

"Bakura doesn't believe I'm a virgin!" Malik pleaded.

"Well he called me a man-whore!" Bakura shot back.

Ryou rolled his eyes. For some reason he wanted to giggle, but that would most likely make things worse. He looked at them both, deciding which one to scold first.

"Malik, this wouldn't be the first time someone said you're not a virgin anyway, so why do you care what Bakura thinks? He was probably just kidding. As long as you know the truth, that's good enough. And _you_." Ryou turned to Bakura, who had been grinning to himself while Malik was being told off as if it was his sibling getting in trouble.

Bakura stopped grinning and waited for Ryou to go on.

"Bakura, just because someone is as…feminine as Malik, (Mariku hid his laughter poorly at Malik's shocked face), it doesn't mean you should taunt them about things like that. Especially when you're not the most pure in that area either."

Ryou nodded as if reassuring his own words, "Do you understand?"

Both nodded.

That wasn't good enough for Ryou. "I want you to apologize and then shake on it. Now."

Bakura got up and walked over to Malik, who had finally uncrossed his arms.

"Why am I doing this?" he asked no one in particular.

Malik smirked, "Because Ryou will kick your ass if you don't." He extended his hand.

Bakura reached out and grasped it, shaking slowly.

"_Apologize_." Ryou reminded them.

Malik sighed, "I'm _sorry_, Bakura."

"For what?" Ryou chimed in.

"For…calling you a man-whore."

Bakura rolled his eyes, "I'm sorry too. If you say you're a virgin, you're a virgin. No matter how feminine you are." He narrowly dodged the slap Malik aimed at him.

Mariku felt very pleased. Ryou had managed to work everything out, and he didn't even have to say a single word! Yes, he was quite content for the next few seconds. Then he became bored, "Why don't we show you around?"

Ryou nodded, having forgotten momentarily where they were.

Mariku walked out the door, motioning for the others to follow. Malik started walking, but then shoved Bakura on the bed before going on his now merry way.

Bakura scowled, "Did you see that, Ryou?"

Ryou just sighed, "Yes I saw it." He then smiled, "But you deserved it." He exited the room, leaving a grumbling Bakura. He sulked for about five seconds. After those five seconds he realized that he was the only one in the room, quickly getting out.

The house was two stories. Since it was only Bakura and Mariku living there, the home was far from being highly decorated. But still, it was well furnished for two teenage guys. There was furniture in every room; Malik wondered what the two did to be able to purchase all their stuff.

Ryou, of course, was in a happy place the whole tour. There were exactly four bedrooms, and he loved them all. There was even a patio when you went out the back door, and there were even four chairs! The house seemed to already know that soon it would have four occupants instead of two.

'_It was like we were meant to come here. Malik can't possibly want to go back after a few days…' _Ryou thought.

The tour ended with them sitting in a circle on the living room floor. It was the first room you came in through the front door. There were two couches, a chair, and a rug in the middle. The rug was what they currently sat on. The seating arrangement was Malik, Ryou, Mariku, and then Bakura.

Malik and Ryou had just taught the other two how to play 'truth or dare'.

"So let's get started." Malik said.

"I want to go first!" Bakura demanded.

Malik just grinned, "Fine."

Bakura looked to Ryou, "Truth or dare?"

Ryou hesitated, "Truth."

"What is the language that you and Malik speak to each other?"

Ryou glanced at Malik, who just shrugged to show he didn't care about that piece of information.

"It's called Japanese."

"What place is that-"

"One question per turn!" Malik cut in, "It's Ryou's turn now."

Ryou nodded in thanks. "Malik, truth or dare."

Malik gave him an odd look, "Truth I guess."

"Tell us what happened at the palace."

Malik frowned, "Ryou, I don't want to-"

"C'mon, Malik, are you scared or something?" Bakura taunted, earning a glare from the other.

"No, I am not scared." Malik took a short breath before beginning, "I got there and some guard was like 'you're a spy!' and I said 'no I'm not!' so he took me to the pharaoh and it was Atemu. So I told him a bunch of bull about us being step brothers and he said I had to wait a week before finding you and bringing you to the palace. Then I met Isis and I told her _everything_, Ryou."

"Everything?"

"Yeah. So she told me to not worry about it. She's either looking or has already found a way to get back. So she's probably really anxious, and you know how Isis is when she worries."

Ryou nodded, but the thief kings were lost as all get out.

"How do you know Isis?"

"Why were you at the palace?"

"Why would you need to lie to the pharaoh?"

"Are you and Ryou really brothers?"

"_Shut up_!" Malik yelled, silencing their questions. He rolled his eyes, "That's pretty much it."

"Really?" Ryou asked.

Malik thought, "No, wait, there is one more thing. Atemu is in love with me."

"_What_!" This came from Mariku and Ryou, who both looked highly upset.

Bakura, however, was laughing his ass off.

Mariku glared at him, this was no laughing matter! He couldn't have Malik being someone else's! Malik was his! He would be, anyway.

"Is this why you want to go to the palace so badly?" Ryou asked.

Malik resisted another eye roll, "Of course not! You think I like him liking me like that? He kissed me, Ryou!"

At this Bakura's laughter increased, while Mariku got up and began pacing. Phrases like 'I will _kill_ him!' could be heard coming from his mouth.

Malik turned his attention back to Ryou, "I need to get back because Isis is waiting! And the fact that Atemu will probably send people to come after me if I don't return safely in a week or so is a good motivation to get me back at the palace."

Ryou nodded, "I didn't realize how…big this is…But Malik, I still don't want to go back. Isn't there_ any_ way we can stay here?"

"I don't know…I'd still wanna go home either way."

"Why?"

"Because I like home better, don't you miss technology? Music, movies, clothes, everything?"

"Malik, you know that we can live without things like that."

"What about your millennium ring? I _know_ you miss that."

"Do you miss the rod?"

"_Soooo much_."

"…Did it just get really quiet?"

They looked up to see Bakura and Mariku staring at them intently. Malik jumped in his spot, "Don't do that!"

"You two are more interesting than I thought." Bakura commented, "The way you're talking, it sounds like you both owned millennium items."

Malik and Ryou looked at each other, Malik shaking his head. Ryou gave a pleading look, "Why can't we just-"

"We can't tell them because they won't tell us everything about them."

Mariku raised an eyebrow, "Who said you don't know everything about us?"

Malik furrowed his eyebrows, "Give up your innocent act. I _know_ I've heard your names somewhere before. Why don't you tell me where?"

No one said anything.

Finally Malik stood up. "This is ridiculous." He said and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Bakura called.

"To my room."

The three were left in silence until Ryou spoke up, "It's late anyway. We should all go to bed."

The other two nodded. "I'm going to talk to Malik." Mariku said and headed off.

"Good luck." Bakura said sarcastically.

Ryou sighed, "I'm sorry for Malik's…mood swings. He just wants to go home."

Bakura shook his head, "Then he should go home. Why is he intent on taking you with him?"

"It's just complicated I guess. Goodnight, Bakura."

"Goodnight, pet." Bakura could just imagine Ryou's blush as the boy walked off. He smirked; Ryou would please everyone if possible. He sat on the couch, not feeling tired just yet.

-----------------------------

"Malik?"

The said boy turned around from looking out the window, "I thought I locked the door."

Mariku was about to say something along the lines of 'I'm a thief, I can pick any lock.', but he thought better of it. "I just…wanted to make sure you're feeling ok." How lame did that just sound?

Malik smirked slightly, "I'm fine. What about you, though?"

Mariku looked confused, "What do you mean?"

His smirk widened. "You seemed pretty upset to learn that I have the pharaoh after my heart." Mariku was so amusing.

"Oh, that." Mariku smirked too, "I hate the pharaoh anyway. I can't have him in love with _my_ property."

Malik chuckled and turned back around, "I don't belong to anyone." He heard slow footsteps behind him. He felt fingers gently graze his back for a moment.

"This is incredible." Mariku mumbled to himself.

Malik closed his eyes, "It didn't feel so incredible." Memories flooded him. He felt like he was about to cry. Mariku could _not_ see him cry. "Get out."

"What?"

"Please get out."

"Malik, I-"

"_Sometime tonight_."

Mariku lingered a few seconds more before heeding Malik's request and leaving.

Malik glared at the window, as if all of his problems were its fault. He sighed. A determined look came over his face. Even if he couldn't get attached to anyone besides Ryou, Malik would enjoy tomorrow and the next few days for Ryou if it killed him.

Feeling somewhat relieved at telling them what happened at the palace, Malik finally went to bed, thoughts of the next day filling his mind.

-----------------------------

Reviews would be _amazing_!


	7. Stop it! Mmm, Nevermind

Hmm, I don't feel like typing anything up here, just read the chapter…Well, perhaps I'll answer the reviews like I did at first ee…

**Lara-Ruin**: Why thank you, I shall put my gold star on my door so everyone can see it forever!

**Jade**: I'm sure your work would've been just as good, but thank you

**Mewchoochoo**: I'm glad I decided to continue the story too, and the title of chapter 6 was rather catchy, ne?

**AnimeLoverAngel**: You know, I never really meant to put any comedy in the story, I was surprised when someone first told me they like the comedy, I was like 'my story is actually funny?' lol, thanks

**Yamisgirl13**: I know, Atemu and Malik is such a weird pairing, maybe that's why I put it in who knows, thanks for the good review )

"Where is Malik?" Ryou inquired. He was busy trying to cook some kind of meat he found in the kitchen. At least it looked like meat. Well, Bakura said it was ok to eat.

The said thief yawned, "I don't care." He sat at the table, and tried running his fingers through his hair. He frowned. "My hair is messy again, Ryou."

Mariku came in with nothing but a towel around his waist, "That's because you have to brush it _regularly_, moron." He strolled over to where Ryou was and looked over his shoulder. "What is that?"

Ryou looked fretful, "Bakura said its ok!"

Mariku just walked away, holding in laughter as he went.

Bakura smirked to himself. "Why don't you leave us alone and go away?"

"What do you expect me to do? I just had a bath."

"I think Malik needs waking up…" Before the whole sentence was out of his mouth all that was left of Mariku was trail of dust.

Ryou frowned and threw away the meat in a basket he found that would serve as a trashcan, one thing he did miss. "Malik doesn't like being woken up in the morning…"

-----

Mariku peered through the crack in the door way. Malik was lying on his stomach, his face buried in the pillow. The covers only came up to his waist; he had changed into a kilt thing instead of his pants from the day before.

Grinning to himself, Mariku ran to the bed and pounced on the other.

-----Downstairs Ryou heard a bump. He asked what it was, Bakura merely answered that it was Mariku's wake up call. -----

Poor Malik woke up instantly, feeling someone straddle him.

"Good morning, Malik." A voice whispered in his ear. It was a voice Malik knew all too well by now.

"Get off me or die."

Mariku pouted. "Someone is being grouchy this morning."

"I'm like this_ every_ morning."

"Well, we can't have that."

Malik felt Mariku begin massaging his shoulders and back. He opened his mouth to protest, but it felt rather nice, so he sighed instead. Minutes passed by in silence.

"If you don't mind my asking, how did you come to have this tattoo?"

"…My father did it."

"Did you ask for it?"

"No. I didn't want it."

"Why did he do it then?"

"It was my 'responsibility'. Further questions on this subject will not be answered."

"Fair enough…Malik?"

"What?"

"Why won't you open up to me?"

"I can't afford to. Why do you care so much?"

"I don't know. Ryou seems more than willing to share his thoughts with Bakura about anything, so I was wondering why you're so different."

"Ryou actually wants to stay here."

"And you don't?"

"Of course not."

"Was it something Bakura or I did?"

Malik rolled over onto his back after Mariku gave him enough room too. "No, it's not you or Bakura." He glanced down. "All you're wearing is a towel." He couldn't help but grin, "Idiot."

Mariku looked down, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that…or maybe I wore it just to give you easy access." He looked at Malik suggestively.

Malik laughed. "I refuse to deal with this right now."

"Deal with what?"

"With you being such a pervert!"

"I only am around you."

"How flattering. Where are the other two?"

"In the kitchen."

Malik leaned up on his elbows. "I'd like to get up now."

"What if I don't want you to go?"

"What if I don't care?"

"I like you where you are though."

"Mariku, get up!"

"What do I get?"

"What do you mean? I don't have anything to give you!"

Mariku grinned evilly. "I want a kiss."

"…Huh?"

Mariku smirked. Malik was so cute when he was clueless. "You heard me…" He murmured, leaning down. Malik wasn't moving away, to his delight. They were _so_ close; Mariku could just _taste_ the other's lips…

"And if you look in Malik's bedroom, you'll notice that he's being seduced by our dear Mariku."

Both looked up to see Bakura smirking in the doorway.

Ryou was standing next to him, a shocked look on his face. "We were just passing by, we didn't mean to, sorry!" He squeaked. He then disappeared down the stairs.

Malik shoved Mariku off him, "You're both assholes!" He ran after Ryou.

Mariku stood up. "What was that for!"

Bakura shrugged. "I was bored, and you were taking too long so I came up. Apparently I also had perfect timing."

"Your timing couldn't have been worse."

"For_ you_, maybe. See ya." Bakura casually strolled away.

Mariku stayed lying on his back, contemplating what would've happened if he wasn't interrupted so rudely…A few minutes later he glanced down to see a bulge in his towel.

"Shit…"

-----------------------------

"Ryou!" Malik called, seeing him go out the back door onto the patio. "Wait!"

He caught up to the albino, who was standing with his back turned to Malik.

"Ryou, if you'd just let me explain-"

"Explain what, Malik!" Ryou exclaimed and turned around abruptly, glaring daggers at Malik.

Malik was scared. Ryou had never been this angry before. He took a step back, remaining silent.

Ryou continued glaring. "Malik, sometimes I just feel like I want to _kill_ you! I mean just…Urgh!" He made his hands look like they were crumpling up a circular object with more force than needed.

"You are such a hypocrite! First you tell me 'we have to get home! We can't get close to anyone or anything!' then here you are about to…do _that_…with Mariku! Malik, you drive me crazy! Why can't you just admit that you like it here and that Mariku is a good guy!"

"Ryou I was _not_ about to do that, you don't know the whole story!"

"Why don't you tell me the whole story then?"

"Mariku only wanted a kiss! It wouldn't have gone any farther!"

"Well why didn't you promptly refuse?"

"Because last night I told myself I would have a good time!" Wait, that came out differently in Malik's head.

Ryou's eyes widened, "So that's your idea of a good time!" He turned back around.

"No! I just…I don't know! I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking! I promise not to do anything like that with Mariku, ok?" Malik didn't know what had happened. When Mariku was leaning down, Malik had wanted it. Just the thought of their lips coming together…Malik shuddered. "I'm sorry, Ryou…"

"No, don't be sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have exploded on you like that. I just…I don't get you right now, Malik. _What do you want_?"

Malik shook his head. "I don't know…"

Ryou faced him again. "You've been saying that a lot lately. Malik, you know better than anyone else that I can't stay angry with most people for very long. I just wish you would make up your mind before you try to tell me how to make up mine."

He walked past Malik and back into the house.

Malik sat down in a chair. How did this manage to happen? He should've brought Ryou to the palace the moment they were together again. He should've done a lot of things. Things that can't be helped now. He sat with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, repeating the same sentence over and over to reassure himself,

"I'm having a good time, I'm having a good time, I having a good time, I having a good time…"

-----------------------------

Ryou came back through the back door just as Bakura was coming in the kitchen.

He immediately noticed something was up. "What's wrong, pet?"

"I think Malik is slowly going insane." Ryou stood looking out the window, leaning against the counter.

Bakura joined him, glancing at Malik before turning back to Ryou. "You wanna talk about it?"

Ryou sighed, "I dunno, I mean, Malik is my best friend. But I think he's being really selfish and hypocritical. He says he wants to go home. Then he almost kisses Mariku. I don't know what to _do_ anymore, I can't understand him!"

They stood in peace a few minutes while Bakura tried to figure out what to say.

"What about you, Ryou?" Bakura asked.

Ryou shook his head. "What do you mean?"

Bakura grinned, "I mean what's so bad about going home? It's not as if we'd never see each other again…"

Ryou gave the saddest look Bakura had ever seen. It took him a few moments to comprehend it. "Wait a minute, Ryou…we would never see each other again if you went home?"

Ryou just shook his head.

"Ra, Ryou, where do you _live_?" Bakura couldn't believe this. Never see Ryou again? He felt a lump form in his throat. He didn't know why. Why did this upset him so? Wasn't Ryou common? Of course not. Bakura knew that from the moment they met, he had just been denying it.

Ryou furrowed his eyebrows, "Are you ok, Bakura?"

Bakura snapped back to reality. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"You just look sullen all the sudden."

"Well why wouldn't I be sullen? Malik wants to take you away!"

Blushing, Ryou asked, "You want me to stay?"

Bakura chuckled, "My dear Ryou, how could I not want you to stay? Why would I even bother teaching you Egyptian or bringing you here if I didn't want to stay?"

"I, I don't know…" Ryou stuttered.

Bakura kissed his forehead. "C'mon. I know a place we can show Malik that might make him feel better. Hell, we _all_ need to feel better."

--------------

"Where did you say we were going?" Malik asked the millionth time, lagging behind again.

Bakura groaned, "_We never did say_! Now shut up and walk faster!"

Malik rolled his eyes. They had been walking all day in this Ra-damned forest! He ran up to Mariku, who was a few feet ahead of him. "How much longer is this going to take?"

Mariku just chuckled. "You talk too much. Just enjoy the day, and don't worry about our destination. It's well worth the walk. Trust me. Or can you not afford to do that?" He walked on ahead of Malik, who was taken back by that question.

Meanwhile he could hear Ryou and Bakura laughing beyond Mariku. Malik wondered if Mariku was jealous of the relationship they seemed to have with each other. He felt slightly bad. Ryou really _was_ willing to talk about anything with Bakura. That's what scared him.

"Here we are!" Bakura finally declared. They had stopped in a clearing.

'_About time…'_ Malik thought. He looked around. "I don't see anything."

"Sometimes it's better to try looking beyond what you see." Mariku said, not looking up. He and Bakura were walking around the clearing, heads down like they were looking for something.

Malik smirked while Ryou looked puzzled.

"I always forget where the freakin' door is…" Bakura said to himself.

"Found it!" Mariku announced happily.

Ryou and Malik watched in fascination as he grasped a metal ring, which was apparently attached to a door. The door was wooden and was covered in grass. Mariku lifted the door and let it fall on its other side.

Malik and Ryou came over and peered inside. It was the entrance to a tunnel.

"So, who's getting in first?" Bakura asked.

The smaller teens clung to their look alikes, "What!"

Bakura frowned(as a way to hide his grin), "What's wrong?"

Ryou looked at the hole. "Bakura, that leads to a tunnel that looks like it leads to no where. And its pitch black in there! Why didn't we bring a torch or something?"

"_And_ it's underground." Malik chimed in.

Mariku looked at him oddly. "So?"

"I don't like being underground, ok! Especially in a cave!"

Bakura rolled his eyes, "C'mon, you two, this is ridiculous. I promise nothing bad will happen. Please?"

Ryou slowly nodded. They all glanced at Malik, who eventually did the same.

Bakura let go of Ryou and hopped in the hole, "Your turn, Ryou!" he called out.

Ryou walked over, seeing Bakura standing there. At least it wasn't as deep as he thought it would be. Bakura held his hands up. Ryou took them and jumped down. It was about eight feet from the floor to the ceiling.

"Catch up with us!" Bakura yelled before he and Ryou began walking.

Mariku chuckled. "You can let go of me, Malik."

Malik shook his head, not taking his eyes off the hole.

The other frowned, "Are you going to be ok?"

Malik nodded. "Yeah, just, hold my hand?"

"Alright." They walked over to the doorway, Mariku not letting go of Malik's hand as he got in. Malik got in shortly after, and they began walking.

You could barely see in there, since the only light was coming from the door that they came in. Malik could faintly make out the silhouettes of Bakura and Ryou about ten yards ahead of them.

Once again, Malik could hear faint laughter coming from up ahead.

Mariku noticed Malik's grip tighten on his hand, "Something wrong?"

Malik shook his head. "No. I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"You probably think I'm an idiot for being scared."

"Of course not. I was thinking that you must've gone through something to make you dislike underground places."

"Well, you're right."

Silence ensued.

"Look, we're almost there." Bakura said.

Ryou did look, and noticed a light at the end of the tunnel. "What are we headed for, Bakura?"

"You're so impatient. I told you to just wait. We'll get there in a few minutes, but I don't how long it'll take those morons behind us."

Ryou giggled, "How can you say that about them? They're probably saying something like that about us right now."

"Like I care."

"I think you do care."

"Well, as long as I can't here it, I'm fine. Oh! Ryou, you have to close your eyes now. Because I said so! Don't worry, I'll guild you."

Ryou held on to Bakura. He heard a rushing sound that grew louder as they went on. Minutes later they stopped walking.

Bakura leaned over and whispered, "Open."

Ryou did so, (dramatic, inspiring music plays) (just kidding) gasping.

There was an underground waterfall, pouring into a huge pool to go with it. The waterfall gave a soft glow to the entire room(well, not like a _room_), giving them just enough light. It made the water really pretty too, even though it was already clear.

It was still pretty dark, but that made it nicer. Around the pool was highly smooth rock where sand at a beach would usually be. Then there were rocks and such that filled the rest of the area, getting darker as you got farther away from the water.

Malik and Mariku came up behind them a few minutes afterwards, Malik marveling at it the same way Ryou was.

Bakura finally became bored and threw off his robe. "Last one in the water is a himar!"

-----------------------------

They spent the next few hours playing in the pool, splashing, dunking, Ryou and Malik even taught them how to play Marco Polo. They had taken breaks from the water randomly so they wouldn't 'prune'.

Mariku was finally the first one to get out and not get back in, drying off with a towel(he and Bakura had left them there from the last time they came) and sitting on a large rock.

Malik joined him minutes later. "Give me the towel."

"Use Bakura's."

"Please?"

"Uhhh, no."

"I don't know where Bakura's towel has been!"

"Mine neither!"

"Fine. I'll just use your body heat." Malik sat in front of Mariku, leaning against him.

Mariku frowned. "Malik, you got me wet all over again."

"Fine. I'll just get up-"

"No!" Mariku grabbed Malik and wrapped his arms around him, "I don't mind."

Malik watched Bakura and Ryou splash each other, "Why did you sit so far away from the water?"

"I felt like it."

----------

"So what's behind the waterfall, Kura?" Ryou asked.

Bakura shrugged, "Solid rock wall."

"Well I want to see." Ryou began walking toward the waterfall, "Catch me if you can!" He said, sticking his tongue out as he began running along the edge, where the water was only knee deep.

"You're going to regret those words!" Bakura ran after him. They didn't go very fast since they were in water after all, but it didn't take long for Ryou to get to the waterfall itself.

Smiling, he went under, the clear liquid pouring down on him for a moment before Ryou came behind it like he wanted. Bakura was right, there was only solid wall. But the wall sort of curved in so he could stand about five feet from the actual water fall.

Bakura came up to him moments later, "I told you."

Ryou blushed as he realized he and Bakura weren't wearing their robes, so Bakura's entire upper body half was exposed. And it was very appealing.

"Thank you, Bakura."

Bakura raised an eyebrow, "For what?"

"Everything. Teaching me Egyptian, bringing me to your home and this place, they're both beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you."

Ryou, startled, blushed again and looked at Bakura with questioning eyes.

Bakura said nothing, only closing the space between their lips in a sweet and gentle kiss.

Ryou was in a state of shock. He felt like he had been waiting for this forever, and now he couldn't even return the gesture!

Bakura pulled away a moment later, confusion on his face, "I'm sorry, Ry-"

He didn't get to finish because Ryou had pulled him back for another kiss, only much fiercer than before. Bakura was more than willing to return it, holding the other close.

They tuned out the sound of the waterfall as both became lost in their own little world of bliss…

----------

"Malik?"

"Yes?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes, Mariku, I do."

"Do you trust Bakura?"

"To a certain extent. What's with the questions?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'm just trying to get inside your head."

"Why on earth would you want to do that?"

"I want to know what you don't want to tell us."

"Why?"

"Because I'm curious, and you're very interesting."

Malik sighed, "Can't you think that I'm boring?"

He heard Mariku chuckle, "I'm afraid not. Why would you want someone thinking you're boring? If only you would _tell_ me things…"

"I want to tell you…"

"Then tell me…"

"I can't tell you…"

"Then go on fighting that battle in your head. I'll be like your lover, waiting for you to win the war and come home."

"Are you drunk?"

"No I am not drunk! That's Bakura's thing. Well, he doesn't usually get drunk since he can hold like ten glasses and stay sober."

"That can't be healthy."

"Neither can keeping everything inside."

"I have to talk to Ryou first."

Mariku tilted Malik's chin toward him. "You talk too much anyway."

Malik blushed, "I do not."

Mariku chuckled, "You know, you still owe me a kiss from this morning."

"Like you're going to get it."

"Who's going to stop me?"

Malik didn't answer as Mariku leaned in the second time that day, this time achieving his goal.

Malik felt his heart speed up as he softly kissed Mariku back. He hadn't expected himself to feel this shy, he had kissed before, why was now any different? Frustrated with himself, Malik accidentally bit Mariku's bottom lip rather hard, drawing blood.

Mariku pulled away, licking his lip slightly. He smirked. "I didn't really see you as being sadistic, Malik. I like it."

Malik was expecting something like 'you idiot, that hurt!', but he then remembered who he was dealing with. So he grinned and licked the blood off Mariku's chin, which he found he liked. "So do I." He muttered before kissing Mariku again, thoughts of home leaving his head…

-----------------------------

Atemu sat restlessly in his chair. _'Where could he be?'_ He wondered. It had already been three days since Namu left to bring Ryou here. Should he be worried? Isis had said not to be. But shouldn't she be just as worried? She certainly talked to him enough.

Namu was coming back, right? He wouldn't have gone to Nubia or anything like that. '_It's absurd that I'm this concerned…'_ he thought. He had an entire kingdom to run for Ra's sake! He couldn't fret over just one person.

"Still…" He got up from his throne, walking to the nearest servant. "Excuse me."

The servant turned, bowing slightly when he saw who it was. "What can I do for you, sire?"

"You remember Namu, don't you? Aren't you the one who took him to his room?"

"Yes, of course, sire."

"What's your name?"

"It is Nasab."

"Nasab. Nasab, if Namu doesn't return within the next four days, I give you permission to leave this palace and find him for me. Can you do that?"

"Certainly, it would be an honor."

"Thank you. And if he doesn't have a boy named Ryou with him, bring Namu here anyway, understand?"

"Perfectly."

"I leave you now. Oh, and don't tell anyone of this."

"Yes, sire."

Atemu nodded and walked away, not seeing the smirk his servant was giving behind him…

-----------------------------

Wow! If you don't remember, Nasab secretly works for Mariku and Bakura -- How could you forget? Anyway, Yay! They finally kissed! I guess it's kind of a weird place to leave off ee but you guys still luv me, right? Of course you do . 

Well, I just realized that I never made a disclaimer for this thing, and since I'm too lazy to go back and edit, I'll just do it right now. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! However, the plot idea IS mine, but that's about it TT

Oh yeah, and in the prologue, I told you that Malik was gonna be all kawaii, but that didn't really happen " I thought he would be, but…whatever…66…Anyway, you already know that I love reviews, so watcha waiting for? You know you want to…


	8. Did I say that out loud?

Hey guys! I hope you've all been well since my last chapter :) If you haven't I'm terribly sorry, I hope my story brings a smile to your face! Let's see, now to answer reviewers!

**AnimeLoverAngel**: Well I certainly hope to make it interesting, otherwise no one would read it, ne? lol, thanks! .

**Mewchoochoo**: Kisses are a necessary part of a romance story:P You're one of the only people who review every chapter, thank you!

**Yamisgirl13**: My fav pair is Malik/Mariku too, I don't really care for Bakura/Ryou, but it's been growing on me recently, plus the story would be boring with those two anyway so it all works out . Thanks for reviewing!

**Shadowweaver666**: It's always nice to hear appreciation for my work :)

**Kayla Kaiba**: Mucho thanks! I replied to your email, I guess you haven't read it yet

-----------------------------

By the time the four got back to the house, it was around midnight. Malik had noticed Ryou and Bakura holding hands practically the entire way back. Something new was up. Unfortunately he was too tired to quiz Ryou on it just now. Right now he needed sleep.

Everyone said goodnight before heading to bed on a much better note than last night.

-----

The next day flew by until it was early evening. The four had spent the day relaxing since their muscles were sore from swimming. Ryou had spent much time with Bakura again, while Malik stayed in his room, sleeping and thinking a lot. That left Mariku to read a random book he found in his room.

Malik was, however, in a much better mood when he came downstairs to find the other three in the kitchen.

"Ryou, where is your robe?" Bakura asked before biting into an apple.

Malik groaned, "Not everyone can withstand heat like you, master of the desert."

"You wish I was _your_ master, Malik. Do you realize how long you've been in your room?"

"I _wish_ I had some chocolate. Or coffee. Whichever was invented first. And yes I know how long I've been in there."

"Malik!" Ryou exclaimed with a worried glance to the thieves.

Malik just giggled. "Did I say that out loud?"

Mariku and Bakura exchanged quizzical looks.

"Loosen up, Ryou. They have no idea what it is, and if you won't tell them I won't!" Malik sang out, smiling sneakily. He took no notice of the 'WTF?' looks he was being given.

"You're in a happy mood." Bakura commented. He threw away the apple core.

"You know what would really put me in a happy mood?"

"What?" Mariku asked just to patronize him.

"If this place had a dance club! Remember that time I dragged you there, Ryou?"

Ryou was blushing. "Yes, I remember. How could I forget? We were almost raped thanks to you and your flirting!"

Mariku feigned being shocked. "Malik, _flirting_?"

"You almost got Ryou raped!" Bakura yelled, really shocked.

"Oh please, I wasn't about to let anything happen, we had our 'you-know-whats'!"

"All the same, do you _realize_ how scared I was!"

"Ryou, darling, dearest, I've apologized a million times and I'm not about to make it a million and one." Malik grinned and turned to Mariku, who was looking at him strangely, "What's wrong with you?"

"I was wondering the same thing."

Ryou did the crazy sign with his hand, making both thieves grin. Malik turned around, only to see Ryou tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. He rolled his eyes, "Is it a crime for me to miss things at home?"

Ryou sighed. "I suppose not. If you still want to go home."

"Of course I do." Malik said stubbornly, crossing his arms. "I'm going to brush my hair now!" He skipped away to his room.

Bakura leaned against the wall, "After spending the entire day in his room, he's just going to brush his hair? What the hell is up with him?"

Ryou just smiled, "Well, I'm pretty sure Malik has always been crazy, but maybe being away from home is getting to him. It's either that or not having the rod…"

The thieves' ears perked up at that. Mariku gave a look that said 'get whatever you can out of him' before casually walking out of the kitchen.

Bakura grinned to himself as he glanced over at Ryou, who looked like he had just let something slip.

This was going to be fun.

-----

Malik sat on the edge of his bed, happily running his brush through his hair. Apparently Bakura had a thing about combing his hair. He had heard Mariku and Ryou tease him about it, anyway.

He grinned, yesterday was so weird. He was furious with Mariku for the stunt he had pulled that morning, and then they were making out that same night. He giggled. Great, what was he even giggling about? There was nothing funny.

Some of his rare hunters had said he was insane behind Malik's back; perhaps they were correct. Malik scowled, but he didn't really mind right now. This made him smirk, then grin, then giggle again. Shouldn't he be troubled by this behavior? Maybe he was high off life. Yeah, right, high off life…

"What in Ra's name is wrong with you?"

Malik looked up, his face like a child when caught stealing a sweet from the kitchen. "Uh, hey Mariku?"

Mariku just raised his platinum blond brows, taking a seat behind Malik. "I'm beginning to worry about you." He took the brush from Malik's hands and gently ran it through Malik's golden locks.

A sigh was heard, "I'm starting to worry about me too."

"Good. Because you just went through about four expressions under thirty seconds, with no one in the room. If you weren't so hot I wouldn't care as much - ow!"

Malik had taken the opportunity to jab Mariku with his elbow to show his disapproval.

Mariku frowned, "I was kidding. Must you always get defensive? Literally?"

"Well, maybe if you wouldn't be so dirty all the time…"

Mariku just laughed, "You didn't seem to mind yesterday, you sadistic little minx."

A blush crept up on the younger teen. "Why did you stop brushing?"

"Your hair is already smooth enough. Why don't we talk?"

Malik turned around, a confused expression, "Talk?"

Nodding, Mariku eyed Malik wearily, "Are you sure you're ok?"

Malik rolled his eyes. "I'm_ fine_. It's just; all you wanna do is talk?" This was certainly new. No groping, kissing, or seduction of any kind?

"Was there something else you wanted?" Mariku grinned.

"…No. What did you wanna talk about?"

Mariku shrugged, getting off the bed. "Whatever you wanted to. Since whatever I try talking about is more than like off limits."

Malik laughed, "That's because we can't stay."

"Well then what could possibly be bad about you speaking freely?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean why can't you just tell us? If you're going to leave then what's the point in keeping your life a secret?"

"Because," Malik began, standing as well, "If you _did_ know, you'd make us stay here."

"You told me you _wanted _to tell us yesterday."

"I don't remember saying that."

"But Malik, I want to know _soo_ much. Bakura and I both do." Mariku said as he embraced the said person, wrapping his arms around Malik's waist.

"_Why_? Why do you care so much? If we won't be here, why should you worry over our past?" Malik asked in a soft voice. He loosely rested his hands on Mariku's shoulders.

-----

"Oh, Ryou?" Bakura asked slyly, moving closer to his pet.

Ryou turned around and began washing already clean dishes, "Yes, Bakura?"

The thief chuckled, "I was just wondering what you meant when you said 'rod' a second ago."

Nervous laughter was heard, "Did I say 'rod'? I meant…God."

"Oh?"

"Yes, Malik feels like the Gods…have…forsaken him."

"We'll have to work on your lying skills, Ryou." Bakura said and gently turned Ryou around to face him. "Now why don't you tell me what you really meant?"

Ryou sighed in defeat; he knew Bakura knew he and Malik were hiding things. They just didn't realize how big they were. Or did they? "Malik would be horribly upset if I told you, Bakura."

"But I would be horribly upset if you didn't." Bakura whined, putting his hands on either side of Ryou against the counter.

Ryou had to get out of this. Malik would murder him if he told! Literally! He tried to think of all possibilities, and there weren't many. He decided on the one that would take the least amount of time to initiate.

Bakura couldn't help but smirk, there was no way Ryou was gonna get out of this. Especially since Malik was currently being distracted by his partner. Bakura would win because Ryou was trapped, Ryou was out of excuses, Ryou was…kissing him?

-----

"Why do I care?" Mariku repeated, more to himself than Malik. "Because I care about you."

Malik gave him a skeptical look, "You actually care?"

Mariku frowned, "Of course I care. Why would I want you here?"

The smaller one shrugged. "From your attitude I thought you would just want me as a fuck toy or something."

Mariku's eyes widened slightly, before grinning, "I wanted you as more than just a toy, Malik, and you shouldn't use such words."

Malik just gave him a look.

Biting his lip, Mariku rolled his eyes, "Ok, when I first met you that night I wanted to, eh,"

"Screw me senseless?" Malik finished for him. (Screw me senseless…that's an odd phrase…)

"Yeah, but I care about you more than that now, Malik, I mean I still want you, so much, I just, I don't know." Mariku sighed and walked to the window, staring out at nothing. What was wrong with him? Why did Malik always bring up the most difficult subjects?

What did he feel other than physical attraction? There was something, he just didn't know what. Friendship? Well of course they were friends, right? Brotherly love? Ew, no, if that was the case Mariku wouldn't want Malik in that way.

Malik came next to him. They stared out the window in silence, each too lost in their thoughts to break it.

-----

Ryou had kissed Bakura as a way to distract him from his recent questioning. _'C'mon, Kura, I know you can't resist…'_

Bakura was dumbfounded. That little snake! Thinking he could just steal a kiss from Bakura! He would so be punished for this…right after Bakura stopped returning it. _'Hell, I'll get him later.'_ He thought, wrapping his arms around Ryou and pulling them together.

'_Yes! Thanks for being so sex-driven, Kura…'_ Ryou thought before losing himself in the lip lock as well.

-----

The two Egyptians had been standing there at least fifteen minutes.

Finally Malik said something, though not looking at Mariku, "I care about you too." He fought back the blush that came when Mariku looked at him again.

He continued staring out the window, "I never meant to, but I care about you and Nathifa and Bakura. Well, Bakura to a certain extent. I only wanted to find Ryou and take him back. Things are getting complicated. We both know that Ryou and Bakura love each other; they just haven't said it yet. If we tell you, I know we'll never get home. That's why I try keeping you both at arms length."

Mariku registered all of this. He then tilted Malik's chin so he would finally look at him. "Malik, I think you should just tell us. Not just because we're dying to know, which we are, (Malik smiled) but because I think you would feel a lot less stressed too. I know Bakura loves Ryou. He told me early this morning while you two were still asleep."

Malik was a little surprised, but said nothing.

Mariku went on, "Still, if you absolutely won't tell us, I want you to be happy the remaining time that you're here. Even if we don't become as close as I had hoped we would."

Malik wasn't sure whether he should grin or frown. Instead he searched the other's eyes. He saw nothing but sincerity in those violet orbs that were so close to his. He finally smiled. "Thank you, Mariku."

"For what?"

"Being so understanding. It really helps." Malik couldn't take the eye contact anymore, so he looked away again.

Mariku felt so disappointed. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't like it. He forced himself to grin, "No problem, kid." He ruffled Malik's hair.

Malik grinned too, "Idiot, get off!"

Mariku sighed, "It's getting late. We should get to bed."

Malik nodded, "I guess. I'm not really tired though."

"That's because you spent the whole day sleeping." Mariku said smirking.

Malik stuck his tongue out, "Whatever!"

Mariku grinned, "Night Malik."

He was about to leave when Malik grabbed his arm. He looked at him with a confused face.

Malik bit his bottom lip, "Will you stay in my room tonight? I just…need someone here."

Mariku hesitated, but nodded.

Malik sighed, "Thanks."

"Any time." Mariku accented this statement with a wink. "But you should know that I sleep naked." He didn't really sleep naked; he just wanted to see if Malik would allow it.

Malik smirked, "Not tonight you don't. Find something to wear."

"I wanna wear you."

Malik laughed, glad that everything was back to normal, "If you won't cooperate then_ I'll_ find you something." He walked to the other side of the room and threw Mariku his crimson underwear.

Mariku made a face, "What is this?"

"Just put it on. They're stretchy so they should fit."

Malik turned away while Mariku changed, though the latter had said he really didn't mind, thus getting a candle thrown at him.

-----

Ryou's neck was being attacked by his look alike's lips. Bakura sent gentle licks and nips along his collar bone, loving the way Ryou seemed to submit to him without second thought. He brought his face next to the boy's ear.

"We could take this to my room…" He suggested wickedly.

Ryou grinned at the tone of Bakura's voice. "I didn't realize how sly you could be, Kura."

The other simply chuckled, "I am the King of Thieves, boy; I can be anything you want from me…"

Ryou giggled airily, about to reply when what Bakura said actually clicked. "King of thieves?" he repeated aloud.

Bakura tensed up. What had he just done? He backed up so he could look at Ryou's face.

Ryou frowned, "What did you mean by that, Bakura?"

Bakura didn't reply, too shocked to do so.

"_What did you mean?_" Ryou was more anxious now. What was wrong? Did Bakura not mean to say that? What was he hiding?

In a few minutes he finally gathered his bearing, "Listen to me, Ryou. What I just said, I will explain to you. But if you can, keep an open mind?"

His eyes looked so pleading. Ryou wondered what had Bakura so edgy suddenly. He nodded, "I'm listening, Bakura."

Bakura laughed in relief, "I knew you would. But I don't want to tell you alone. Can we wait until morning when Malik and Mariku are with us?"

Ryou nodded again. "Of course. I think we should go to bed now."

Bakura smiled to show his approval and kissed the other's forehead.

They headed up the stairs together, each headed to a different door. Ryou paused at his, "Good night, Bakura."

The thief smirked by habit, "Night, pet." He went inside his room and shut the door.

Ryou sighed, both in confusion and content, before doing the same.

-----

Mariku lied there in bed, stroking Malik's hair. Malik had cuddled up to him and fallen asleep within a few minutes, but his look alike just couldn't seem to follow his lead. He wanted so much for Malik to think of him as more than a friend. He felt an aching in his chest, even though Malik was right here beside him.

Malik seemed to want nothing more than to go home, even with how much Ryou seemed to want the opposite. Would he leave without Ryou? Was he that desperate? Mariku hoped not. He really did.

Unconsciously, he held the boy closer. Was he falling for Malik like Bakura for Ryou? Malik had said he cared about them. Cared how? Not enough to stay, obviously. Yet, maybe in the next few days, if he worked hard enough, Malik would see just how much he was needed.

Malik made his home sound like the greatest place in the world. What was its name? They never said. He just knew that they spoke Japanese where he and Ryou came from. Maybe he did just want to get back to the pharaoh, despite denying it. A wave of jealousy soared through him. Like hell Atemu would be claiming what was his.

He looked at Malik's sleeping face. In Mariku's eyes, he was beautiful. Apparently the pharaoh thought so too. He grinned and mentally scolded himself. There was no way Malik could possibly share Atemu's feelings. Then again, he didn't seem to share Mariku's feelings, either.

He was making himself worn out with all this thinking. With a heavy sigh of fatigue, Mariku finally fell asleep.

-----------------------------

Once again, Malik was the last one to wake up. He had noticed that Mariku wasn't there anymore, to his disappointment, and came down to investigate. He found everyone in the living room, "Why do you people get up so early?" He rubbed his eyes.

Bakura snorted from his seat on the couch, "We don't get up early; you just always get up late. How much beauty sleep can someone get?"

Malik only yawned, "What time is it?"

Ryou shrugged, "It would probably be around 10:00 am." Malik noticed he was on the other side of the couch, away from Bakura. Malik would've thought they'd be cuddled together.

"Come here, Malik." Mariku said, chuckling in his recliner.

The said person obeyed and sat in Mariku's lap, eyes half lidded.

Bakura took a deep breath, "We have something very important to tell you, so listen up because I'm not repeating myself."

Malik grunted, not being fully awake and not caring enough to try to be.

Mariku shot a questioning look at his partner, "You didn't consult me. What are we telling them?"

Bakura smiled guiltily, "Heh heh. I might've let something slip last night instead of it being the other way around."

Ignoring the intense glare, Bakura went on, "I told Ryou I'd explain everything here anyway, and it's about time we did. Mariku and I don't lead the most holy lives."

Ryou listened intensely while Malik rolled his eyes, muttering something about figuring that out a while back.

"Mariku and I are each the King of Thieves."

-----------------------------

Sorry for making this chapter shorter than usual, I just wanted to leave you hangin Not very much happened in this chapter, I'm afraid, unless you count building the relationships between yami/hikari as something major. The next chapter should be more entertaining though.

Also, **this applies to everyone,** I wanted to know, do you guys want this to go to a Y/X rating? In other words, sex (lol)? I said it might in the story summary, and it will if enough people say yes. It would most likely appear in one of the next 2 chapters. Although I'm not quite sure how Me + Writing Lemon would turn out just to warn you, it would probably equal… . …

Lol so review please! Not just for the lemon, but I like hearing anything about my story, so if you would be so kind…puppy eyes…C'mon, it takes less than five minutes…depending on how fast you type, but I digress…


	9. Tell me your secret and I'll tell mine

Ok guys, I guess I'll write a lemon (blushblushblush) Anyway time to chat!

**Reesescupprincess**: Someone really likes lemons XD You'll just have to read to see their reaction…

**MalusineDarkness**: Glad you found my story good enough to review, and of course I don't think you're a pervert lol

**AnimeLoverAngel**: That was one of the most amusing reviews I've ever received lol! Thanks my ever loyal reader ;)

**Yamisgirl13**: Don't worry; I'll write a lemon for both couples, it would be unfair to do just one (even though I was only planning on having Malik/Mariku in the beginning lol)

**Mewchoochoo**: MxM is the most amazing couple ever! And yes, building relationships are probably a big thing .

**Lara-Ruin**: Why yes, I am a Meany :) Thanks for your review of every chapter

-----------------------------

"Mariku and I are each the King of Thieves."

His partner looked at him with a face of dismay. Ryou remained listening, not wanting to interrupt. Malik seemed to finally wake up because he sat up in Mariku's lap and said, "Huh?"

Bakura smiled sadly. He elaborated for them. "We're the King of Thieves. We're partners. We've stolen from countless people, tombs, and graves. We've murdered and threatened hundreds. The pharaoh has been after our hide for a while now, but he has no idea what we look like. He somehow found out our names though, so that's why we use false ones." He stopped, waiting for a reaction.

Ryou had begun backing away until he was practically about to fall off the arm rest of the couch. He gaped at Bakura, who avoided eye contact with him.

Malik had shut his eyes and was now thinking. "So that's where I've heard your names before…" He remembered a conversation he had shared with Isis in the garden before telling her everything…

----- Flash Back! -----

Isis laughed at a comment Namu made about the guards of the palace. Then she got down to business. "Listen, Namu, I wanted to warn you about going to the city in search of your half brother. There are many dangers that face you. Things like animals and psychos and such. Just be careful."

Malik just grinned, Isis was always so protective. "Any psychos in particular?"

She nodded, "As a matter of fact, yes. Mariku and Bakura, the Kings of Thieves. They're partners. The pharaoh has not mentioned them to you so you wouldn't worry. But I thought you should know."

The teen boy saluted her, "Mariku and Bakura. I'll look out for them."

----- Back to Reality! -----

Malik opened his eyes and glared at the ground, "She could've told me that I look just like one of the most wanted men in all of Egypt!" He stood and whirled around, facing a nervous Mariku.

"No one knows what we look like. How do you think we walked around in the city?" Bakura commented, but was ignored.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

Mariku sighed, "We were waiting for you to trust us enough to where you wouldn't be scared when we finally told you."

Ryou looked to Malik for reassurance. Malik just stood there with his mouth open, not really knowing what to say or think.

"I…need to think." He said before hurrying outside on the patio. Ryou went in the kitchen, feeling uncomfortable being alone with both thieves.

Malik paced around the four chairs, thinking to himself. Well, wasn't this a pretty piece of information?

Hell, _he_ had murdered before, many people in fact. Well, more like sent them to the shadow realm, but if he had been really ticked off by one of his rare hunters he had been known to use the Rod's physical abilities instead of spiritual.

His men had dreaded both punishments, of course. Malik smirked and reached for where his loyal rod usually was, but found that it wasn't there again. He was being such a moron; he hadn't had his rod in almost two weeks! Why would it just magically appear again! It was killing him, too. He missed it. It was the closest thing he had to a child. A demon child, but still a child.

A child? Malik chuckled. He now knew he was crazy.

But back to the matter at hand. Mariku and Bakura. They should've told them sooner, shouldn't they?

Malik kept pacing for a while; he estimated about twenty minutes or so. He suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. Stopping and turning around he saw Ryou.

"So what do you think?" Malik asked.

Ryou looked slightly confused, "This is amazing."

Malik frowned, "What is?"

His confused expression turned into more of a grin, "That they're living in this place with no one bothering them, that they have a little girl who worships them, that they've been able to live the way they do and none of Egypt even knows what they look like!"

Malik gave a small smile, "I didn't look at it quite that way. I meant are you angry with them?"

Ryou shook his head, "I was scared at first. I mean, they've done some pretty unlawful things, Malik. But then I realized that they haven't hurt us in any way. I know they wouldn't either."

"Some of the stupid things Bakura says hurts my head."

Ryou laughed, "Be nice. I also thought about you. A year ago you would've stopped at nothing to take Atemu's powers and become the new pharaoh. You know that you've done just as much destruction as them, Malik. Tell me I'm wrong."

It was true. Malik had lied, murdered, stolen, was he really no better than two thieves?

Ryou noticed his troubled expression and quickly added, "But it wasn't your entire fault. Things had happened to you to make you hardened. But once you explored yourself during that duel, you realized you didn't want to cause that much pain anymore. You broke through that darkness and took control of your life, without being clouded by the past. We saw that you were a good person, Malik, and we gave you a second chance."

Malik stared at Ryou a moment before hugging him nearly to death. Ryou smiled and returned the gesture.

The Egyptian finally pulled back. "So you're saying they deserve a second chance just like me?"

Ryou nodded, hoping Malik would agree.

To his relief, Malik nodded his head, too. "I can do that. But tell me something first."

"Anything."

"Do you love Bakura?"

Ryou would've made a tomato jealous, before answering, "Yes. I love Bakura, Malik. I don't think I can leave him."

Malik scowled, "I don't wanna talk about staying or leaving right now. Let's just go and tell the idiots what we've decided." A mischievous gleam appeared in his eyes, a gleam Ryou hadn't seen since before they were sent here.

They walked back inside, through the kitchen, and into the living room. The thieves looked up. They had been talking before and turned to face their look alikes.

"Mariku, we-" Malik started.

"Before you say anything," Bakura interrupted him and ignored the glare he received, "We need to explain ourselves. Mariku and I have each gone through something in our past to make us, eh, take up this life. But we would never hurt either of you. I understand that what we've done is wrong, and we've been trying to gain your trust so we could tell you confidently without worrying what you thought. You're both special to us and we don't want to lose what we already had. So, uh, do you forgive us?"

Ryou and Malik shared a look for about two seconds before each laughing their asses off.

Bakura and Mariku exchanged glances. They both wondered what was so funny.

Malik had to lean on Mariku to prevent himself from falling over. Ryou just leaned against the wall. Every time they tried to start a sentence it just set off their laughter more. Bakura and Mariku couldn't help but grin, even chuckle a bit.

"Ok, what the hell was that about?" Bakura said once the laughter had died down to just giggles every few seconds.

Malik was the first to attempt an explanation, "We, well, first of all, that was the worst speech I've ever heard, Bakura, you himar."

Bakura frowned, "I suggest you go on before I put my knife to good use."

Malik rolled his eyes, "Fine. Ryou and I talked outside, and we had already decided to forgive you. I was going to tell you, but _someone_ cut me off."

Upon hearing this, Bakura immediately ran over and hugged Ryou. Malik was sure Ryou couldn't breathe, but he said nothing. He didn't want to ruin their moment.

He felt a tug on his arm. It was Mariku, who indicated with his head for Malik to follow. Malik did so without hesitation. Mariku led him upstairs to the end of the hall, past the bedrooms. Malik watched in amazement as he pulled yet another door, but this one was in the ceiling. It blended in with the ceiling so you wouldn't see it unless you already knew it was there.

A rope ladder fell down, and Mariku climbed it, disappearing within seconds. Malik sighed and followed him.

-----

"Bakura…can't…_breathe_…" Ryou took in long gulps of air when Bakura finally let him go.

The thief king smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, Ryou. I'm just so happy. I saw the look on your face and thought you would hate me forever."

Ryou smiled sweetly when he caught his breath again, "I could never hate you, Bakura. No matter how bad the circumstance."

Bakura grinned and placed a chaste kiss on Ryou's lips. "And I would never hurt you, pet."

They embraced yet again, deep emotions circling them even though neither knew of the other's feelings.

Bakura led Ryou to the couch. Ryou liked this couch, it was a rich, brown color and the exterior was leather. He was pulled into the older teen's lap (to where they faced each other), and he didn't mind one bit.

"Bakura?"

"Yes?"

"You said you and Mariku went through things that hurt you in your past that made you choose to become thieves. What happened to you?"

Bakura sighed, "Do you really want to hear it?"

"Please?"

"Alright." Bakura thought, the memories coming back to him.

Ryou's head fell on his shoulder. He sighed once more before beginning his story.

"I was born in a village that was once known as Kuru Eruna. It was somewhere between being a small village and being a small city. My father died when I was two, or so my mother told me. I don't really remember him at all. I can't even picture his face. But my mother told me he was an amazing man who loved his family.

"My mother and I loved each other so much. She was wonderful. I don't think I had any friends; my mother was the only one who mattered to me. Her and my sister, Amina. Amina was ten years older than me. I remember thinking how pretty she was. She used to tease me for getting in so much trouble.

"I was four years old when they were taken away. They had found a spy that lived in our home, so Atemu's father ordered that the entire town be destroyed and left with no survivors. It was his way of setting an example.

"The guards swarmed. Panic and chaos was everywhere. They set the homes on fire, including ours. Amina wasn't able to escape."

Bakura paused. Ryou pecked his cheek, "Are you ok?"

He nodded and went on.

"Amina was killed by the flames. My mother carried me. I was holding my eyes shut from fear and from crying. She put me down when we reached a well we used to walk to. She told me to run; she didn't care where, as long as I was safe and far away. I told her I wouldn't leave her. I didn't want to go.

"She made me promise her that I would, though, and I finally gave in. Just then a guard came, and my mother pushed me away harshly. I did as I promised and ran without looking back."

Bakura had to stop again. This time he had tears running silently down his face. Ryou wiped them away. Bakura kissed his hands and started again.

"I didn't know where I was going, but I kept on until my legs finally gave out. By then Kuru Eruna was a small speck. It looked more like a bon fire than a village- are you crying?"

Ryou had started sobbing softly into his shoulder. Bakura's story brought back painful memories of Ryou's own mom and sister. "I'm sorry, Kura…I just couldn't hold it in any longer…"

"Don't be sorry."

In a few minutes his crying ceased, and Bakura finished up, "After that I found another village where a man found and trained me after hearing my story. He taught me how to fight and steal. I was even better than him at both by the time I was thirteen. One night while I was prowling around in some merchant's house, I ran into Mariku. That's how we met. We've been partners since then. So what's your story?"

"Well, first you need to know about our home." Ryou was tired of keeping Japan a secret. He loved Bakura, and was staying with him, and if Malik wanted to waste this opportunity and go back, then he could go back by himself.

"Bakura, I'm going to tell you everything that you've been trying to find out about the past week and a half, so listen…"

-----

When Malik finished climbing, he found himself to be on the roof of the home. He knew it was flat, but he didn't know there was a way to get up there.

The edge of the roof rose up, creating a sort of two foot tall fence around it. Mariku sat and leaned against it. Malik closed the door before going to him. He lied on his stomach in front of him and let his head rest in Mariku's lap.

Mariku looked down at his little infatuation, "Who said you could stay there?"

"I did."

"Fine, be that way."

"I will. Thanks."

Minutes passed. Mariku noticed a few dark clouds slowly heading their way. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you giving us a second chance? It could've been your perfect excuse to get away from here and go home, because we're criminals."

Malik grinned, "Because you're still the same person you were before you told us, and I would be a hypocrite for staying angry. But I really want to know why you became a thief."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do."

Mariku chuckled, "Get up and I might tell you then."

Malik pouted but sat up, only to be pulled down with a squeak on top of Mariku. Mariku waited for him to get comfortable. When they both were he started his tale.

"Until I was ten, I lived in a two story house, bigger than this one even though we didn't need it because I was an only child. My father was a bastard who gambled by playing poker with his friends while my mom worked all day six nights a week in the market. She owned a clothes stand, and could mend about any fabric when needed.

"My father was actually pretty…ok, behavior wise…until I was nine. Then he began drinking along with his gambling. My mom begged him to stop, but of course he never listened. It lasted a year, him and my mom arguing, until my tenth birthday. It all stopped that day.

"I woke up that morning to hear my parents yelling at each other again. By then it had become normal. But a few minutes later I heard a real scream from my mom. I jumped out of the bed and ran to their room. I saw my dad standing over my mom. Well, my mom's corpse. He had impaled her with a sword.

"He turned around and saw me. I tried to run but he caught me and dragged me back into the room. He threw me on the bed and asked me if my birthday was today. I was balling too much to answer out loud, so I nodded my head.

"He smirked and said he'd make it the most memorable birthday I'd ever have. I didn't know what he meant until he took off his clothes and ripped off mine. I struggled as much as I could, but in the end, he succeeded in raping me."

Malik looked up at him in horror, but Mariku didn't notice him. He was too far gone in his own little world. He kept going.

"When he was done he put on some clothes and left the room like nothing happened. I ran to my room and stayed there, curled up on the bed, and cried all day. Later that night I heard laughter coming from downstairs. My father's friends were over playing poker again. Something inside me snapped, and I stopped crying. I knew what I was going to do.

"I waited until his friends were all gone. I snuck downstairs with the same sword that was used against my mom that morning. While my dad was counting his profits, I came up behind him. I killed my father that night. He didn't even have time to scream, let alone register what was happening.

"I ran away and started a new life, one that revolved around stealing. I picked up on street fighting so I wouldn't get raped again. I vowed I would never allow myself to be raped again. I met Bakura three years later while robbing a merchant's place. We eventually hit it off and became partners. I guess that's about it."

Mariku slowly came back down to earth, seeing that Malik was giving him a sympathetic look. He tried hugging him even though they were lying down, "I'm so sorry, Mariku…no one should have to go through that, especially at such a young age."

Mariku just sighed and hugged Malik also, "You shouldn't be apologizing. You had nothing to do with it."

"I know, but I still feel horrible…"

Mariku laughed, "Malik, you're being ridiculous, I don't you feeling sad for me. I'm over it. I was over it when I decided to kill him."

Malik gently kissed Mariku, who returned it just as gently.

They broke away for air minutes later, Mariku looking confused, "What was that for?"

Malik smiled sheepishly, "For comfort?"

"I didn't need any comfort."

"Well, maybe _I_ did."

"Malik?"

"Yeah?"

"It took a lot for us to tell you our usual life style, for me to tell you my personal past, could you please tell me yours?"

"You mean everything I said I wouldn't?"

"Maybe."

Malik looked at the other, and suddenly wanted to tell him. He wanted to tell him two nights ago, but he didn't feel like their trust was strong enough then. Now he did. Mariku had told him the worst parts of his life, which meant he must trust Malik, and Malik trusted him with his whole heart and soul. Besides, Ryou had wanted to tell them since before he came.

"Ok."

Mariku looked surprised, "Really?"

"Keep asking stupid questions and I'll change my mind."

-----

Bakura's eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. He had never been more confused in his life. Ryou was from _how far_ into the future? And all these contraptions he was talking about, like cars, and boats, and TV's. What did he expect of Bakura? To just say that he gets it and move on to the next subject?

"Are you following me so far?" Ryou asks.

Bakura slowly nods, "You're from a place called Japan, 5,000 years ahead of us. After that you lost me, pet."

Ryou smiled, "Well, you don't have to know about all the technology since you'll never see it. So don't worry about it. Anyway, Malik and I possessed millennium items."

Bakura was actually interested when he heard this, "Which ones?"

"I had the ring and Malik had the rod."

"So that's what you meant last night."

"Right."

"Go on."

Ryou went on to give a summary of Malik's past, how they met, Battle City (Bakura was most confused on this), and the year after that.

Bakura nodded to show he understood, "You've told me just about everything except for your own past, pet. Won't you tell me that?"

Ryou nodded, "Of course. You remember when I told you about cars?"

"That transportation that replaced horses?"

"Yes, well, they can be very dangerous. I had a mother and sister too, but my sister, Kathryn, was six years younger than me. Then there was my dad. We were all a really happy family in our city. I guess like the kind you'd only think you'd see on TV.

"I was twelve, so that made Kathryn only six. It was snowing outside, you remember snow?"

"The white stuff that falls down like rain?"

"Yes. Well, it was snowing. My mother and Kathryn wanted to go to the store, or market. They were driving back to the house when out if no where, a drunk driver hits them in the back with full speed. They crashed into a ditch and hit a tree. I missed them so much, my father had to keep telling me that it wasn't my fault for not stopping them."

Ryou sniffled and Bakura held him, "I know it wasn't your fault, pet. What about your father?"

"He's still alive. He couldn't live with the memories of their death so we moved to Japan. That's where everything else comes in."

Bakura nodded, rubbing Ryou's back soothingly. Their pasts weren't that different when you think about it. Family dying at the hands of someone else. Both lost their mother and sister, too. Maybe it was a sign that they were meant to be together.

-----

Mariku had listened with fascination. This was incredible. Everything that Malik had told him about Japan and modern Egypt was amazing. But he was avoiding talking about his past. More specifically, Mariku wanted to know about his tattoos.

"Sit up for me, babe."

Malik did so, blushing ever so slightly. They got up and happily stretched their legs. Malik was so happy that he told Mariku, and that Mariku believed him. It really was a weight off his shoulders. He stood about a foot away from the edge. The clouds were closer now; Malik heard a soft thunder in the distance.

They sat down once more, across from each other.

"Malik, I know you have more to tell me…" Mariku said, but Malik was avoiding eye contact.

He tilted his chin up, "Please tell me your past?"

Malik nodded, "Yeah, I guess. I don't think it's as bad as yours, though."

When Mariku only shrugged he went on, staring at the ground all the while.

"Like I told you before, I'm really Egyptian. I just moved to Japan. I come from a long line of pure Egyptian heritage. My family was known as the tomb keepers. You see, in this time, Atemu locked his soul in the millennium puzzle before he died, and my ancestors volunteered to stand guard over his tomb until he returned.

"They lived underground for the next five thousand years, until I was born. I was the first born son, with an older sister, Isis, and an older brother, Rishid. My mother died in child birth. It was always the first born son's responsibility to carry on our way of life. That meant me.

"We were never allowed to go outside; I was always studying, or getting in trouble, my father didn't let us have much fun. I did sneak out once, though, and Rishid was in huge trouble for allowing it when my father found out. On my twelfth birthday, I was to be initiated. The marks on my back were the initiation.

"I didn't want it, though, I was scared. I heard that the pain was excruciating, and it lasted for a long time afterwards. They weren't exaggerating. Rishid asked-begged my father if he could take my place in the initiation. My father punished him for even thinking he could ever be a real Ishtar. So it went on as planned.

"I had to be tied down to a stone table because I was struggling so much. Father put a gag in my mouth to stifle my screaming. By the time it was all over I felt like I had been through hell and back. I hated Father. He looked like he was _enjoying_ my pain while he carved into my back. I think he might've even held back laughter.

"I seemed to hate everyone after that day. Father, Rishid, Isis, the pharaoh. _Especially_ the pharaoh. He was the cause of all of it. I vowed to get revenge, to take his thrown so I would be the new ruler. But there was the problem of being a tomb keeper. I was supposed to stay in that fucking dungeon for the rest of my life.

"So finally, one day while my father was yelling at Rishid over something he didn't even do, I asked for the Rod. He told me not until I was of age. I snapped; I'm not even sure what happened to me. I just grabbed the Rod and used all of the rage that I built up inside me against my Father. Father was dead when I was through with him.

"We ran away, my siblings and me, and started all over. I learned that Atemu had returned at last, and was in Japan, so that's why I went. I've already told you of my rare hunters and Battle City and everything else after that."

Malik took a long sigh, and then grinned. "Looks like both of our dads were murdered." He said shakily, putting his head down even more.

Mariku saw tear droplets falling down, making wet spots on the roof. His felt his heart melt and he embraced Malik, pulling him into his lap once more.

It decided then, with a large sound of thunder, to begin raining.

-----

At the palace, Isis was worried about her brother. She had found the spell around dawn this morning. She had been looking almost nonstop since Malik left, so she hadn't gotten much sleep.

But now that she finally knew how to get them back, sleep seemed like the greatest luxury on earth right now. Grasping a book of spells in one hand while opening the door with the other, Isis tiredly came into her room.

She placed the book on the bedside table and shut the window on account of it raining, then stumbled to her bed. She allowed herself to collapse on it, falling asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

-----

"Ryou, I have something important to tell you."

Ryou looked at Bakura from the kitchen, "Yes?"

Bakura got up and was about to answer when he heard a noise. It sounded like laughter. What was it? His question was answered when two blonds came running past him, first Malik, and then Mariku.

Apparently the latter was trying to catch the first. Malik ran in the kitchen behind Ryou, Mariku on the other side. "Help me!" Malik said through giggles. Ryou grinned and obliged by not letting Mariku past him.

Finally Malik shot past Ryou and back into the living room behind Bakura. The white haired thief smirked, acting like he was going to help Malik, but stepped aside just as Mariku got to him.

The blonds went crashing onto the couch. Malik laughed insanely as Mariku tickled him to death. Then Bakura noticed that they were all wet, "You're tracking water into my house!"

His complaint went unacknowledged.

"Ma, Mariku, HAhaha, you win! You hahah win! Oh Ra, I GIVE IN!"

In a moment the tickling stopped, and Malik wiped away his tears of laughter. Mariku was grinning until he looked down. He had a slight problem. He quickly stood up. Thankfully Ryou and Bakura had left.

Malik looked at him strangely, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing! I just needed to stand up…"

Malik looked at him like he was crazy although Mariku had his back turned. Quietly, he stood up and came behind his look alike. Very cautiously, he leaned over Mariku's shoulder and looked down. He saw that Mariku was trying to will his erection down.

He couldn't help himself. He burst out laughing all over again.

-----------------------------

Alright, the lemons will for sure be in the next chapter. I thought it was a rather amusing part to end the chapter on. If you don't wanna read it, I guess I'll warn you right the lemon starts, savvy?

Isis found the way back! But will they even need it now? Will Malik still leave? Will Atemu find out his real life? Stay tuned for the next chapter and maybe you'll find out! Reviews are always lovely, just like my readers lol .


	10. Give it to me baby

Lalalalala, well I think you should what is happening this chapter. laughs insanely lemon! Ok, I do NOT expect to be flamed for this because I'm going to warn you ahead of time, and no one said they didn't want one anyway. Soooo I'm in a pretty good mood right now, but by the time I'm done typing this I will be like 'blushblushblush!' lol, but hopefully it won't be to bad, ne? By the way, **habibi ** **love** in Arabic.

**Mewchoochoo**: I just love putting Mariku in uncomfortable situations, like getting turned on when he doesn't mean to XD I'm horrible, I know

**Yamisgirl13**: Well, you waited for it, here it is!

**MalusineDarkness**: I'd be so embarrassed to, but that's just another perk about being a girl, ne? ;)

**AnimeLoverAngel**: Thank you for that interesting punishment for Mariku's father :) I think you must eat sugar everyday, but I love your reviews so I'm perfectly fine with that lol

**Lara-Ruin**: Yay! I'm glad you were pleased with the last chapter, hope this one will be the same way .

**Tsuki-Neko-Chan**: Another fan, I'm so happy, thanks for the review ;)

**Showweaver666**: XD No, I suppose there is nothing wrong with it lol

-----------------------------

He couldn't help himself. He burst out laughing all over again.

Mariku turned around and glared, "It is _not_ funny!"

Malik stopped laughing for a moment and grinned lecherously. "You know, I could help you with your…problem." He walked up to his look alike.

Mariku's eyes narrowed, his lips curling into a smirk. "Really now." He said, getting turned on even more.

Malik leaned over to his ear ad whispered sweetly, "No. You're on your own, dearie."

He backed up from a shocked Mariku, holding in laughter. At least until that same Mariku began to chase him again.

"Damn you, Malik! When I catch you, I'm going to rape you, and you'll be so sore you won't be able to move for a year!"

Malik just laughed and kept running. Oh, how he loved toying with dear Mariku.

-----

"What do you think they're doing, Bakura?" Ryou wondered aloud, hearing all sorts of thumping and yelling from downstairs. Bakura had taken him to his room so the blonds wouldn't distract him and Ryou.

He rolled his eyes and sat on the bed, "Nothing, just being idiots."

Ryou came and sat next to him. He gazed out the window at the rain, which was pouring pretty heavily now. It made him think about the night they came here by accident. Maybe it wasn't an accident. Maybe they were meant to be here. It made sense to _him_.

He noticed Bakura looking at him. "What?"

Bakura just smiled, "What are you thinking about?"

Ryou shrugged, "Not much, really." He then remembered earlier and asked, "What was the important thing you wanted to tell me downstairs, Kura?"

Bakura opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He had the courage to tell Ryou his true feelings before Malik and Mariku showed up, but when they came his confidence had fallen again. He was afraid of rejection, of Ryou saying he only thought of them as friends. But that couldn't possibly be what he thought, right?

While he was fighting himself in his head, Ryou examined him. He loved Bakura so much, and wanted to tell him. He just couldn't get himself to. Maybe that's what Bakura wanted to tell him and he couldn't either? That would be amazing. Maybe Ryou should be the first one to say it; maybe he should make the first move.

If Ryou only thought of them as friends, he wouldn't have kissed Bakura. But he only kissed him to distract him from his slip of the tongue. Slip of the tongue…Bakura could show him a slip of the-no! His mind was clean, _clean_!

No, that would be to bold. He should let Bakura say it. Then again, Bakura may never tell him. He had to take the initiative. But Bakura seemed like the more dominant one. Would he be offended if Ryou said something before him?

Bakura would tell Ryou…now. Ok, now. No really, now. Words would come from his mouth…now. Now. Now. Now. Now, now, now. **Now**, **Ra dammit**!

"_I love you_!"

-----

Malik had no where to run. He was trapped in the hall way. He turned around to see Mariku walking slowly, a predator like smirk still gracing his features. Malik backed up until he was against the wall.

Although he was trapped for the most part, Mariku could still see a small grin on his look alike. Gods, he couldn't wait much longer. It was very fortunate for him that Malik never seemed to wear a shirt…

"You know, I told myself this wouldn't happen." Malik said, earning a chuckle from Mariku.

"I think you should try telling yourself something else." He said, crushing his lips to Malik's immediately afterwards.

Malik happily complied with the rough kiss, bringing his hands to Mariku's head so he could deepen it. He knew Mariku had wanted this since they met, he could feel it in the fervor behind the kiss. Now Malik wanted it too. He wasn't sure what would happen afterwards, but he wouldn't worry about it until afterwards came.

For now he was really focused on the present. Especially when he felt something wet and solid run across his mouth. He parted his lips and let Mariku explore, giving a small moan in the process.

They parted for air, but their lips found one another again moments later. Mariku grasped Malik's hips and lifted him slightly. Malik took the hint and wrapped his legs around the other's waist.

Still lip locked, Mariku turned around and began going in the opposite direction. Malik could feel his look alike walking quickly. He would've laughed under different circumstances.

He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when he felt them falling. The kiss was broken and Malik held onto Mariku tighter, waiting for the impact that came with hitting the floor. The impact never came though.

The smaller teen opened his once closed eyes. Mariku had put his hand out at the last second and caught them both. It looked like Mariku was doing one armed push ups while holding Malik at the same time.

He looked from the floor to Mariku incredulously, "What the hell was _that_ about?"

-----

Was Bakura crazy, or had Ryou said that at the exact same time?

Ryou couldn't believe it, did that really happen?

They stared at each other, uncertain of what to do.

After a few minutes Bakura half grinned, "Did we just…?"

Ryou blushed, "I think so."

He grinned full blast, "So…this means…"

Ryou nodded, "I love you, Bakura."

Bakura felt his heart sore. Not even the Gods could ruin this perfect moment. He felt giddy with delight, and hugged Ryou tightly. "I love you to, Ryou. My Ryou. My pet. I love you _so_ much."

Ryou's brain wouldn't comprehend it. Bakura loved him too? This was incredible. A smile slowly took over, and he hugged the thief back. "**Koishiteru**, Bakura."

Bakura looked confused, "Koishiteru?"

Ryou's smile impossibly widened, "It means I love you. You're my koi, Kura."

The older teen smirked, "Koi. It has a nice ring to it. I like it."

Ryou pushed Bakura back on the bed, straddling him. "Good. Because I'm going to call you that for a long time." He said before leaning down. Shyly, he brushed his lips against Bakura's.

Bakura, on the other hand, couldn't believe Ryou had made the first move. And he was still cute the entire time doing it. Bakura loved it. He kissed back for a moment before flipping them over. Breaking away, he smirked again at the startled Ryou, "I'm always on top, pet."

-----

A deep and rare blush appeared on Mariku, "I…uh, tripped." The blush deepened.

Malik couldn't help but think how cute that was, but asked, "Over _what_?"

"Nothing!"

Malik smirked, "Nothing? Then why did you fall?" He let go of Mariku, who was relieved because Malik was heavy in that position. Malik crawled out from under Mariku, stood up and looked behind his look alike. "You did too trip!"

He helped Mariku, and then walked behind him. There was a handle on the floor. It looked like _another_ door handle. "How many trap doors do you _have_?"

"That's all."

"So you have a basement?"

"In a sense."

"Can we go down?"

Mariku sighed in defeat. "I suppose." He opened the door. It revealed steps.

Malik grinned and immediately went down…"Holy shit!"

Mariku couldn't help but grin at that and followed Malik.

"Welcome to the _basement_."

Malik ignored his comment as he looked around. The room was _huge_, and it was filled with treasures! There were tall hills of gold, silver, jewels, weapons, anything that was worth something seemed to be stored in this one room.

It then clicked. This was where they stashed their stolen goods after they robbed some place. There were lit torches around the wall, illuminating the room. "How rich could someone possibly be?"

Mariku chuckled, "Let's just say that if we retired from being thieves right now, the four of us could live quite comfortably the rest of our lives."

"_Damn_." Malik walked around, being watched by Mariku all the while. "You two must have had a lot of time on your hands."

"Time, blood, whatever you want. Now come here."

With an eyebrow raised, Malik turned around.

Mariku walked over to him, "Do you like this?" He was holding up a necklace. It had a silver chain, and in the center an amethyst gem.

Malik loved it, "It's beautiful."

"Then it's yours." Mariku stood behind Malik and put the necklace on him.

Malik held it up, it was gorgeous! "Why? You don't have to-"

"I _want_ you to have it, Malik. It brings out your eyes, anyway."

Malik smiled, "Thank you." He noticed there was a couch behind them. He smirked evilly. They would get to have their fun after all.

-----

"Ryou, tell me…Malik is a virgin…what about you?..."

Ryou gasped as Bakura ran his teeth over a nipple, "Ye, yes, I am…"

"I guess I'll have to be gentle then, won't I…if you're sure you still want to go that far…"

"Of course I do…"

((Eh, I suppose the lemon would start here…for both couples…run away!))

Bakura licked and kissed his way down Ryou's stomach. He removed the kilt his pet wore and took him in with his eyes. He loved Ryou's body, it wasn't like any other. It was beautiful and pure, pure like snow. If Ryou really was pure like snow Bakura had a feeling he would like it.

A soft whimper brought him out of his thoughts. He smiled, "My pet seems impatient…" He licked the underside of Ryou's manhood, slowly.

The boy shivered in anticipation, "_Kura_…" The thief took him in his mouth, and Ryou thought he would simply burst with pleasure. He tangled his hands in Bakura's hair and arched up, wanting to feel as much wet warmth as he could.

Bakura gently massaged his thighs, earning another soft moan. He loved Ryou's voice too. Everything about him was just amazing. And he had the boy all to himself. Bakura sucked harder, wanting to hear his voice again. He could feel that Ryou was about to climax. He hummed softly, hearing Ryou breathing go faster.

In a matter of moments Ryou came, crying out Bakura's name loudly. Bakura sucked him dry; swallowing all Ryou had given him. He leaned up to tenderly kiss his soon to be lover, who returned it full heartedly.

"Are you ready for the next part, love?" He asked when they pulled away for air. Ryou smiled and nodded. Bakura grinned and stripped himself of his own clothes, noticing the wide eyes on his look alike's face. "Do you like what you see?"

Ryou smirked, "Maybe." His smirk became a frown when Bakura placed three fingers in front of him, "What do I-"

Bakura stuck them in Ryou's mouth before he could finish his sentence. Ryou blushed, finally understanding, and did as implied. Bakura bit his lip to stop himself from moaning at the sight. When he was sure Ryou had done enough, Bakura pulled them out.

"This might feel uncomfortable at first." He warned before pushing the first digit in Ryou's entrance.

Ryou's brows quivered, not sure about the new feeling Bakura was giving him. When he looked ok Bakura added the second, making scissor movements. By the time he added the third Ryou no longer felt the pain. He sighed. It just felt nice as they moved in and out, in and out…

"Are you alright?"

Ryou nodded, whining when Bakura removed them for good. The thief chuckled, "Don't worry, pet, there's more in store for you."

Bakura positioned and, after Ryou nodded, pushed himself in the tight entrance. Ryou held back tears. Bakura was bigger than the digits had been. Bakura waited for him to get used to the feeling. When Ryou leaned up and kissed him Bakura started a slow, steady rhythm.

Soon enough the unpleasantness left and Ryou was once again in a state of bliss. He arched up, meeting each of Bakura's thrusts. He was glad he had waited for this, that he had waited for love. But in a few minutes Ryou needed more.

"Bakura, harder, please, harder…"

"As you wish." Bakura picked up the pace greatly, and was amazed that Ryou was able to keep up with him. Ryou wrapped his legs around Bakura to bring them closer together if that was possible. He suddenly cried out as a new wave of pleasure hit him. Bakura smirked, knowing he had found that would make Ryou see stars. With aim he hit it head on each time, and Ryou felt like he was on cloud nine.

While this was going on Bakura noticed Ryou's once again hard member. He brought his hand up and began pumping it in time with his own thrusts. This sent Ryou over the edge and he screamed as he came the second time that night.

Bakura came shortly after, groaning and calling out his lover's name as he did. Sweating and breathing deeply, Bakura pulled out of Ryou and lied next to him. Ryou cuddled into his body and they brought the covers up over them.

"Bakura, that was, incredible…" Ryou said, blushing heavily.

Bakura smiled and brushed a stray lock from Ryou's face, "It was, wasn't it?" He kissed the other's forehead, "I love you, Ryou. Will you stay with me?"

"I'll never leave you, Kura. I love you too."

They shared a weak kiss, for both of them were tired, and fell asleep in each other's arms.

-----

A brow rose when Mariku saw the look on Malik's face, "What are you-Ah!"

Malik had shoved him backwards and onto the couch. The smaller teen's smirk became a grin as he got on his knees, "Did you think I was finished with you?"

He pulled the kilt off Mariku, who still seemed to be in dazed mode. When Malik stroked his member a few times though, watching as it rose, he finally got it. Mariku's head fell back and his eyes closed, allowing Malik to do whatever he wanted. Hopefully they wouldn't become sidetracked this time. He would be too pissed to try and seduce Malik all over again.

Malik had never done anything passed kissing before, so he hoped this was good. He engulfed Mariku, delighted when he heard a gasp. He swirled his tongue around the head, tasting pre cum on the tip. It had a peculiar taste, but not in a bad way. He felt Mariku's hands become entangled in his hair.

"Maliiik, more, now…"

Malik would've removed his mouth just to be annoying, but Mariku wasn't letting him go anywhere. So he began sucking.

Mariku bit his lip, there was no way Malik could be a virgin. He seemed to know what he was doing too well. He was in heaven. Malik started moving his head, up and down. He bucked up, and Malik made a choking sound. But Mariku paid no attention, he was so close. He finally released, moaning as his seed filled Malik, who had a hard time trying to swallow it all.

Sighing in content, he looked down, seeing white liquid drip from his look alike's lips.

Malik just grinned again and asked in a sickly sweet voice, "Wanna taste?"

He nodded and leaned down to kiss Malik. While they did that Malik crawled up and into Mariku's lap. Mariku's hands wandered over a tattooed back, trailing down to Malik's ass. He pinched it, smirking when Malik let out a muffled yelp. He started removing Malik's clothing, who was more than happy to help.

After his white kilt had been discarded along with Mariku's purple one on the floor, Malik started grinding into Mariku, slowly. Mariku's breathing hitched at the welcomed friction, "What a slutty little virgin, Malik…"

Malik smirked, "So? You can't tell me you don't like it." He silenced further comments with another kiss.

"I want you now." Mariku murmured against the other's lips.

Malik just chuckled, "Then take me…" He whispered, sounding as anxious as Mariku.

He shuddered involuntarily and gently pushed Malik off of him, who growled at the loss of body heat.

"Hands and knees, sweetie."

Malik obeyed. Mariku coated his fingers in saliva and began preparing Malik. Malik squirmed a bit but other wise didn't complain. Finally Mariku leaned over him, "Just relax; it hurts more when you tense up."

Malik nodded, letting his muscles loosen. He felt himself being entered and hissed at the pain. Mariku left kisses along his back, whispering soft apologies. This made Malik smile. He pushed back against Mariku, signaling that he could go on. Mariku did. Once Malik was used to it, it was too slow a rate for him.

"Faster, dammit…"

Mariku smirked and held back no longer. They continued rocking with each other, lost in a world of pleasure. Malik could've sworn he felt the couch move forward an inch. Mariku reached around and pumped Malik's neglected manhood. Malik gasped, "Mariku…I think…I'm gonna…"

"Come for me, Malik…" The older teen purred.

With a scream they finally came at the same time. Mariku into Malik, and Malik onto his stomach and the couch.

Mariku pulled out completely and flipped Malik over. Leaning down, he lapped up all of Malik's sweet essence. Malik giggled breathlessly as Mariku's tongue tickled him.

"Are you tired?"

Malik nodded. Mariku picked him up bridal style, smiling as Malik snuggled in his arms. He carried Malik until they got to Mariku's room and carefully laid him down. By then Malik had already fallen asleep.

"Sweet dreams." He whispered and kissed his forehead. He closed the door quietly and went back downstairs- Bakura would _kill_ him if he didn't get that stain out of the couch…

-----Lemons are over (and rounds of relieved sighs fill the room) -----

Morning came. The rain stopped. All was peaceful in the forest.

Malik Ishtar awoke but didn't open his eyes. He felt for the warmth that should've been lying next to him. There was nothing. His eyes snapped open. He was alone in an unfamiliar room. He assumed it was Mariku's. But when did he get in there? He last remembered being in the basement…He blushed as memories came back to him.

When he stood up, a pain shot through his back side. Not much, but enough to be annoying. Walking to his room, he put on the pants he wore the day he left the palace. Where was everyone? He hoped he wasn't the last one up _again_. He headed down the hall and noticed that Ryou's door was open. He usually shut it when he went to bed.

He glanced inside. No Ryou. That left downstairs and Bakura's room. Being the curious person he was, Malik tip toed and gently pushed the door open enough so he could see. He peered inside, his eyes widening. Ryou and Bakura were together, asleep, and from what Malik could tell, naked. He shut the door before he saw anything lower than their chests. He wasn't _that_ curious.

As he walked down the stairs, a smile came to his face. So he and Mariku weren't the only ones having _fun_ last night. It was really rather cute. They made a nice couple. Him and Mariku on the other hand…

"What are you so happy about?"

Malik looked up; his feet had taken him to the kitchen. He gave Mariku a look, "Good morning to you too." He said sarcastically.

Mariku chuckled, "Here." He handed a bowl of fruit salad to Malik, who was suddenly hungry.

"Thanks. Did you eat?"

"Just before you came down."

"Good." Malik sat on the counter. Mariku sat at the table, saying nothing while Malik ate. When he finished Malik stood and put his bowl in the sink, feeling too lazy to wash it. He turned around and looked at Mariku, "You're wearing my boxers again."

Mariku smiled innocently, "Am I?"

Malik grinned, "Yes you are. But I don't really care. Keep them."

"Thanks. Are you sore?"

"How could you tell?"

"Well, you _were_ a virgin; I wouldn't expect you to feel fine. But don't worry, it'll go away."

"Well I would hope so."

A silence fell between them. Malik didn't know what to say. Wait, yes there was, "Where were you?"

Mariku frowned, "Where was I what?"

"After…last night. Why didn't you stay in the bed with me?"

"I had to get the mess off the couch. I did come back afterwards for a few hours. Then I got hungry and came downstairs." He smiled. Malik loved his smile. Every girl at school would swoon for that smile. Too bad he was gay. Malik smirked and sat next to Mariku at the table.

"Malik?"

"Yes?"

"Did last night…mean anything to you?"

Malik saw the anxious look in his eyes, "Why?"

Mariku took a deep breath. He had to say this. It had been plaguing him since last night. Hell, before that even. "Because, I think I love you, Malik."

Malik couldn't find any words to say. Mariku loved him? It just seemed impossible. For Mariku, anyway. But the words made him feel…happy? Yes, happy, great, in fact. He smiled to himself, "Say it again?"

Mariku didn't want Malik playing games with him, but he obliged, "I love you." He said it more confidently. It just felt so right to say it. He couldn't think of anyone else he would tell those three words to and mean it.

Malik's smile widened. He felt positively giddy, there had to be one explanation…"I love you too, Mariku." Yes! The sentence just rolled off his tongue, "I love you."

Mariku could barely contain his excitement. He felt amazing! Like he could do anything as long as Malik was there. He picked Malik up and spun around multiple times. He stopped only when Malik muttered something about puking. "Tell me again, my habibi."

"I love you."

"Again."

"I love you."

"Again."

"I love you, Mariku! I love you love you love you love you love you!"

-----

Bakura and Ryou came in the kitchen to find Malik and Mariku fiercely making out on the table.

"You morons! Get up; we have to eat off that!" Bakura shouted. They continued. Bakura glared; he wasn't going to go unheard like yesterday. Rolling his eyes, he gave the pair a harsh shove.

The result was them flipping over and off the table. They landed with Malik on top this time, at Ryou's feet. They didn't seem fazed since they went on eating each other's faces. Ryou turned a deep red and backed up.

"Morning, Ryou-" Malik managed to get out before Mariku growled and pulled his head back down.

"Ignore them, Ryou." Bakura said dully.

"How can you!" Ryou squeaked out, trying to tune out the noises coming from the floor.

Bakura just grinned, "It was bound to happen sooner or later, right? I knew Mariku couldn't last much longer."

As rude as it was, Ryou couldn't stop staring at the arousing sight, "I don't think I can last much longer either, Bakura."

The thief's head snapped up with a devilish grin, "Then what are we waiting for?"

The albinos ran upstairs. The blonds paid no heed to the slam of Ryou's door.

-----------------------------

End of chapter ten. How was it? Besides the lemon I mean. I'm scared of what people will think about the lemon. 0.0 I would've written more to it, but I just…felt it was enough. Ok, the questions I asked at the end of last chapter will more than likely be answered in the NEXT chapter lol. You know I love reviews so you know what to do! Mucho luv!


	11. Family Life with the Ishtals

Hey peeps! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter; I hope you enjoy this one too!

**Lara-Ruin**: I'm not really an expert in that area either, but I'm glad you liked it, thanks for the review:D

**AnimeLoverAngel**: Really? No sugar before that review? That's amazing XD The review made me happy too :P

**Mewchoochoo**: Yes, it was my first lemon ever lol, I guess it wasn't so bad after all (according to you guys) Thanks!

**Yamisgirl13**: I'm not sure if there will be more lemons or not, it depends on how the story goes, you'll just have to read (Heehee). I'm glad Tenshi liked it too ;)

**Tsuki-Neko-Chan**: Ooo, 'sinfully adorable', I like that phrase :)

**MalusineDarkness**: Thank you, it's always nice to be praised :)

-----------------------------

The next time Ryou and Bakura came down the stairs that day, it was already past noon. They were relieved to find that the other two were sitting in the living room, just talking.

"Hey guys, sorry about this morning." Malik apologized, sending a quick look to Mariku.

Bakura shrugged, "If it turns Ryou on then I'm fine with it."

"Bakura!" Ryou exclaimed. He sat in a chair and hid his blush by turning his head away.

The blonds exchanged smirks.

"So did you two have fun?" Mariku inquired.

Bakura smirked, "Yes, we did. You?"

"How do you think I got this?" Malik said, pointing to a bite mark on his collar bone. Mariku leaned over and licked it, "It better stay there, too."

Malik rolled his eyes and shoved his lover away.

There was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" Malik said, hopping up.

Bakura pulled him back, "Are you insane! There are people who want us dead and you would just open the door for whoever the hell knocked!"

"Sorry, I didn't think you'd get so worked up."

"Shut up, Malik, and don't answer the door."

Bakura left before Malik could say anything else.

Mariku said something about being hungry and went into the kitchen, leaving Malik with Ryou.

Malik smirked, "So Ryou got lucky last night?"

Ryou rolled his eyes and said nothing.

Malik went over to him, "That's a big fat YES!"

Ryou smiled, "You are so immature. We made love. You make it sound like it meant nothing."

"Which also means Ryou got lucky."

"So did you!"

"Hell yeah I did!"

Ryou laughed, "I love you, Malik."

"I'm your best friend, you have no other choice. This calls for a celebration."

"For what?"

"We both got lovers on the same night! It's a miracle. You know how I wanna celebrate?"

Ryou shook his head, the smile never leaving, "How, Malik?"

"I wanna dance! Dance with me, Ryou!"

Ryou was really happy. This was the Malik before they came here. He was back to his crazy, happy self. For the most part, anyway. His smile became a grin, "But we have no music."

Malik grabbed his arm and yanked Ryou from his chair, "It doesn't matter, pretend we're in a club and the music is _blaring_. Or just stand there. Either way works."

Mariku walked back in the living room. "What the hell?"

Malik and Ryou were dancing, well, Malik was dancing. He was dancing very provocatively around a blushing Ryou.

"What the fuck are you doing to Ryou?" This came from Bakura, who came back in with someone behind him. It was Nasab. What was he doing here?

"Aw, Kura, why did you stop him?"

Malik smiled innocently and looked at Bakura. He noticed there was a guy behind him, "Who was at the door?"

Nasab stepped out from behind Bakura, "It's nice to see you again, Namu."

Ryou frowned. Everyone seemed to know this guy except him. He sat in his chair again and remained silent, waiting to see what happened.

"Nasab," Malik said, placing the name, "You're that servant. What are you doing here?"

"The pharaoh sent me."

Malik didn't quite process that, "What?"

"Why don't we sit down and discuss this." Bakura suggested.

Mariku nodded. He walked over to Malik (who kept staring at Nasab) and dragged him over to the couch. They sat next to each other. Bakura sat on the floor, leaving Nasab to sit in the other chair.

"Explain yourself, Nasab." Mariku commanded lightly.

Nasab nodded, "Four days ago, Atemu told me that if Malik hadn't returned, I was required to bring him back to the palace with or without Ryou. Four days have passed, and here I am."

"What are you, a spy?" Malik asked.

"Yes. He works for us. He's the one that led me to you." Mariku said, smiling at the last part.

Malik didn't smile back, "So you came here just to bring me back? I don't even have a say?"

Nasab shook his head, "I'm afraid not. The pharaoh did seem awfully smitten with you, Namu."

Malik scrunched up his face, "I wish he wasn't."

"It's Malik, and he's not going anywhere." Mariku put his arms around his lover protectively. Malik buried his face in the crook of Mariku's neck.

"I can't go back to the palace empty handed. I have to have him with me, Mariku. If I don't return soon Atemu will simply send more people."

Malik shook his head, "I don't want to go to the palace."

Ryou was shocked. Malik had been harping about going back nonstop and now without second thought he wanted to stay. Love is crazy.

"Can't you just tell him I'm dead?" Malik suggested, earning a grin from Bakura.

Nasab had no answer for that. He simply looked to Mariku and Bakura for their input.

Bakura said nothing, and Mariku just held onto Malik tighter.

Malik didn't want to go to the palace. He _did_, however, want to go home. That thought had never left his mind. He would be more willing to leave if Atemu wasn't in love with him, or just wasn't there. Preferably the latter. But he missed home. He missed Isis and Rishid, and though he wouldn't admit it aloud, Yugi and the others. And definitely the millennium Rod…But Ryou was here. And Mariku. He loved Mariku. He couldn't leave just leave him…

"Can we just have some time?" He asked Nasab.

"Of course. I'll be outside. Call for me when you need me." Nasab said and left the room.

The four heard the door open and close.

Malik escaped Mariku's grasp and walked to the window, gazing out.

"I don't want Malik to go." Ryou said sadly.

"I'm not letting him go. Atemu can kiss my ass." Mariku stated, glaring at the wall.

Bakura said nothing. He wasn't close to Malik like the other two, but Malik was still an ok person. It wouldn't be the same without him. Mariku and Ryou would become depressed. Who knows how long that would last, if it ever stopped? And who would he have to share insulting comments with? He glanced over at Malik. He looked for the first time at the carvings on his back. Ryou hadn't gone into great detail, but that must have hurt like a mother-

"So what do we do?" Ryou asked, giving Bakura his innocent look like a fawn who lost its way.

"I don't know, pet, I'm going to go change into something clean. I'll be right back." Bakura went upstairs.

Ryou turned his attention to Malik, "Well?"

Malik remained silent.

Mariku stood up, "This is bull shit."

Ryou sighed and brought his knees up to rest his chin on them.

Bakura came back in, "Has Malik said anything?"

Mariku just shook his head.

Bakura frowned, "Well, the end result of this entire situation depends on his decision."

Ryou nodded, although unnoticed.

The room went silent as all eyes stayed on Malik. They were each hoping for the same answer, and dreading the other. Anxiety filled the air as the silence pursued. Why didn't Malik say anything? It shouldn't be that hard to make a-

"I'VE GOT IT!"

The three teens jumped at Malik's outburst.

Malik spun around, "I've made my decision."

They listened for the rest as a grin came to Malik's face.

"I've decided to go home."

They stared at him like he was crazy. How could he decide that! After everything that had happened since he came, how could he-

"I've also decided that you're all coming with me." His head would've exploded if his grin became any wider.

Ryou was the first to speak, "Malik, how on earth would we do that?"

"I have it all figured out!" Malik was bouncing up and down on the toe of his feet from excitement.

The thieves exchanged glances. Leave their home?

"Malik, there's a little problem with that. Mariku and I are _wanted_."

"So? No one knows what you look like except for me, Ryou and Nasab. _Please_?" He gave Mariku puppy eyes.

Mariku's mouth hung open, not knowing what to say. Five thousand years into the future. That would be interesting.

"I know we can do this!" Malik looked like he was about to wet his pants.

Nasab came back in, "Sorry, but have you decided yet?"

Malik nodded to his lover, biting his lip.

Bakura cut in before Mariku could say anything, "Yes, we have. We're all leaving. And Malik is going to tell us just what his plan is."

Malik squealed in delight and tackled Bakura in a hug, "Thank you!"

Ryou smiled. So Malik would get what he wanted, and he would be content as well.

Malik pulled away from Bakura and took in a deep breath, "Ok, I need you to pay attention if we're gonna pull this off. Understand?"

Everyone nodded and gathered close as Malik began telling his scheme.

---------

It was decided that they would leave the next day. Malik and Ryou couldn't wait. They spent the rest of the day talking about things they would have again. Mariku and Bakura tried to follow, but eventually gave up.

"I just thought of something." Ryou said.

"What is it?" Malik asked.

"What about Nathifa?"

Bakura and Mariku both looked up at that. Everyone had forgotten about the poor girl.

"She can come with us." Mariku stated, "She could fit into the plan easily."

Ryou nodded.

Malik smiled, "Then we have another side stop to make on our way to the palace."

---------

"We'll be back in about an hour. Meet us back here. Nasab, stay here and make sure nothing happens." Mariku ordered, receiving nods from everyone.

Bakura and Ryou disappeared into the crowd of people in the market. The blonds rode toward Haniya's home on separate horses.

"I love it when you take charge." Malik said and imitated one of Mariku's winks.

The older teen smirked, "You shouldn't talk to me like that, _Namu_."

"We're not at the palace yet, _Madani_."

"Right. There is something I need to tell you though."

"What is it?"

"Haniya isn't Nathifa's mother."

"Nani? What is she?"

"They're not related by blood. Nathifa's mother died a year after having the child."

"How?"

Mariku grimaced, "She was-"

"**Mariku**!" The young girl came running out of her house to greet the visitors.

They got off their horses. Mariku picked her up and they went inside.

"Haniya!" Mariku called.

"Yes?" The middle aged woman appeared. She smiled, "Good morning, Mariku. And Malik."

Malik nodded, returning the smile although it wasn't entirely natural.

"We've come here to ask you both something. It's totally up to you, and you can think it over as long as you want." Mariku started off, not bothering to beat around the bush. He sat on the couch with Nathifa in his lap.

"Don't I get a hug?" Malik asked. Nathifa grinned and ran to him, hugging him around the legs since he was much taller. He bent down and embraced her, "Do you still have that bottle?"

She nodded, "Of course! It smells really good. I put some in my hair, but I don't think I will anymore because then it'll run out and I won't have anymore and then…" She continued to chatter to Malik. Meanwhile, Mariku explained the situation to Haniya. Not about the 21st century, but enough so she would get that Nathifa wouldn't see her anymore.

She nodded, but the smile had disappeared. When he was finished she frowned, "I suppose we could ask her. I don't know what she'll say, but there's no harm in asking either way."

"Nathifa?"

Nathifa stopped singing the song she had made up to Malik and looked up, "Huh?"

"We need to talk about something very important. Mariku and Bakura are taking a trip with Malik and Ryou. They want to take you with them."

"Where? How long?"

Haniya took a deep breath, "Back to Malik's home. The place he came from. Forever."

Malik saw her eyes glisten with unshed tears.

"You mean I wouldn't get to see you again, mother?"

She shook her head, "No, honey."

"No."

They looked at her, puzzled.

"Why not?" Mariku asked.

"I love you guys. But I love my mom first. Leaving her would be like leaving _your_ parents, Mariku."

Mariku laughed, tears coming to his eyes, "Well said, child. Now hug me goodbye."

She smiled and went to him. He scooped her up, placing kisses along her head. Her smiled widened. She wiped away his fallen tears, "Don't worry, Mariku, it'll be ok. I love you."

He nodded, "I know. I love you too." The sentence was shaky. Mariku hugged her tighter, "I'll miss you so much. Bakura will too. And Ryou and Malik. We all love you, Nathifa."

Malik felt his eyes glaze over. His heart was suddenly in his throat, preventing him from saying anything. Haniya came over and helped him up.

"I must say, I'm not too sad to have her staying."

It took a few seconds for Malik's voice to come back. He smiled sadly, "I'm sorry, Haniya. It was wrong to even think about taking her from you. We have each other, but you and Nathifa belong together."

She sighed, "You're a good boy, Malik. Help Ryou take care of my boys, won't you?"

He nodded, "I will. I promise." He hugged her.

"Malik!" They looked down at Nathifa holding her arms up. Malik picked her up as Mariku had done. "I have another gift for you."

"Really?"

"Yep. This is from me and Ryou. Here."

"How did you do this?"

It was a photo that Malik found in his back pocket of his black pants about a week ago. He and Ryou were posing, arms around each other with big smiles.

"It's our little secret, ok?"

"Ok."

When Malik picked up Nathifa, Mariku and Haniya embraced.

"I'm sorry for everything. Bakura too. You know we just want what is best for her."

"She knows that too. And stop apologizing for things that are far in the past. I love you both like a son, Mariku. I asked Malik to keep an eye on you for me."

He chuckled as even more tears fell, "We love you both so much. Take care of each other."

"Don't worry about us, dear. We'll be just fine."

((Aww what a sad part))

----------

"This will kill Bakura." Mariku said. He had pulled his hood over his head so no one would see his tear stained face.

Malik raised an eyebrow, "Bakura is a softy?"

"When it comes to the ones he cares about, yes."

"You know Nathifa will be ok."

"I know that. I'm fine too."

They made it back to their meeting place. Ryou was holding some bags which he fixed onto the horse's saddle with the other things. "Where is Nathifa?"

Malik hopped off his horse so the albinos could get on, "She won't be coming."

"What?" Bakura exclaimed, "Why the hell not?"

Mariku shook his head, "We'll explain later, Billah."

Bakura bit his lip, "This better be good." He wouldn't let himself cry. Not in public.

Ryou frowned. He had half been expecting this.

The couples shared horses once again, with Nasab leading them to the palace.

----------

They finally came inside the gates. This was the closest the thieves had even been to the pharaoh, yet they couldn't do anything because of their plan. It sucked.

"Stay in your role." Malik said when no guards were around. They had reached the entrance and were standing in the throne room. Nasab had gone to announce their arrival to Atemu.

The other three nodded.

"Mariku, stop messing with your make up."

"I don't like it."

"It makes you look the part more. Do you want to pull this off?"

"Yes."

"Good. Here he comes."

Atemu was highly excited. Namu was back! He entered the throne room, but was surprised to see him talking with not one, but three people. Malik turned around and flashed him a warm smile.

He returned the gesture and walked over, "Welcome back, Namu."

"It's good to be back, pharaoh."

"Did you find Ryou?"

"I did find Ryou, and he told me that our parents returned from Nubia. I've spent the last few days with them, catching up on things. I really hope you don't mind."

Atemu smiled, "Not at all. Would you be so kind as to introduce us?"

Namu nodded, "First of all, this is my brother, Ryou."

The tan man with white hair stepped forward, "It's an honor to finally meet you, sire. Malik told me all about the palace." He had an innocent smile, but something about it wasn't natural.

"Likewise. How did you acquire that scar?"

"A wolf. Mother told me not to, but I didn't listen." He grinned.

Atemu let out a half grin, "Malik told me he was older than you, but it looks the other way around."

Ryou laughed, "Malik was always rather feminine."

Malik rolled his eyes, "This is my mother, Haniya."

Another white haired person. She gave a small curtsy, "The pleasure is all mines, your majesty."

Atemu smiled, she looked very gentle. Her smile suited her much more than it did her son. "You look so young."

"I've heard that many times."

"And this is my father, Madani."

Finally someone Namu actually looked like was here. He nodded to Atemu.

Atemu nodded back, "How is it that you all look so different?"

Madani answered, "My wife died some time ago, and so did her husband. We found each other a few years ago and fell in love all over again. Namu is my son and Ryou is her's."

"I see. Well, you're all welcome. Namu, you have the same room as before, and your family may have the vacant rooms in the same hall. And Namu?"

"Yes?"

"Isis is waiting for you in the gardens."

"Oh, thank you. I'll just lead them to their room and then go greet her."

"Very well. You may give them a tour of the palace if you like. You all must be tired from your trip. Feel free to do as you like."

"Pharaoh, you're needed in the library." Priest Seth had come over.

Malik resisted the urge to take the Rod and run.

Atemu nodded to them and walked off with Seth.

Malik led them to the hall in which his room was located, "I guess mother and father should sleep in the same room, and Atemu thinks we're really close so we should share a room too, _Ryou_."

Bakura nodded, Mariku frowned slightly, and Ryou blushed.

Malik smirked, "I'm going to see Isis. Are you coming?" Whether they came or not didn't seem to matter since Malik began walking away before they could answer.

They shared looks and followed the blond.

"Isis!"

The priestess looked up from her spot on the ground, smiling when she recognized who it was. She stood up in time for Malik's hug. He had run over, while the other three simply walked, chatting to each other.

Malik briefly pointed them out and told her their real names.

"But I thought you were only bringing back Ryou?" She stated, a knowing smile coming to her face.

He bit his lip, "Well, we kinda picked up the other two I guess."

"Of course. Did you tell the pharaoh who they really are?"

"…Eh, not really."

"I didn't think so since Ryou is wearing a dress."

"We came up with another plan. We'll explain it as soon as those SLOW POKES GET OVER HERE!"

Bakura merely flipped him off. Mariku smacked the back of his head and Ryou, being in the middle, pushed them apart. They finally arrived in the next few minutes and spent the following hour telling Isis what happened while Malik was away.

She told them about finding the right spell, and was about to go into detail when a servant came and announced it was time for dinner.

----------

"You should go to bed." Bakura suggested.

The four had been hanging out in Malik's room after dinner. Dinner had been interesting. Every time Atemu said something to Malik Mariku would growl to himself, then say sorry for being over protective. Atemu also probably thought _Ryou_ was not given enough attention because every few minutes he would kiss Mrs. Ishtal's cheek and say he loved her. She would blush profusely and tell him to stop it and that she loved him too. Isis seemed to find it amusing while the high priests thought the family was flat out insane.

Mariku frowned, "I don't want to. This is the only time I can lavish attention on Malik without the pharaoh around." He accented this sentence by glomping Malik lovingly (kawaii!), earning a giggle from his habibi.

Bakura rolled his eyes, "You moron. How many times do I have to get onto you about having sex with your father, Namu?"

Malik stuck his tongue out, "As many times as father wants to have sex with me!"

"That is so wrong." Ryou commented.

"Well I can't help it, Namu is just so sexy and my own wife keeps having affairs with her son!"

Ryou gasped and was pulled to Bakura, who smirked, "I plan to keep it that way too."

"Apparently, you certainly embarrassed me enough while we were eating."

"There is nothing wrong with someone loving their mother. Besides, I didn't keep making animal sounds at the pharaoh."

"He deserves much worse."

"My lover is protective, and I like it." Malik said, kissing Mariku's cheek. Mariku squealed and huggled him more.

"By the way, why isn't Nathifa here again?" Bakura asked.

Mariku sighed, "She wants to stay with Haniya, who sends her love by the way. Nathifa does as well. I'll miss her."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Minutes later the silence was broken by a yawn from Ryou.

Bakura grinned, "You are too cute, pet. As I said before, you should go to bed. You're tired."

The blonds pouted, but gave each other a chaste kiss before Mariku walked to the door. Ryou and Bakura exchanged goodnights and Ryou walked to Mariku.

Bakura winked, "Don't keep us awake all night!"

"Vice versa!" Mariku called back before shutting the door.

"So we're stuck together for one night, tomb keeper." Bakura commented, grinning.

A blond brow rose, "And? I'm tired. I'm going to sleep."

"You don't wanna talk to me?"

"Uhh, no."

"Why not? I'm not sleepy."

"I am."

"I don't care."

"I don't care that you don't care."

"…Please?"

"Shut up and go to sleep." Malik rolled onto his side, his back facing Bakura.

"You shut up."

"Fine."

"No!"

"What?"

"I wanna talk!"

"Then talk for Ra's sake!"

Bakura's grin widened.

Tomb robber: 1 Tomb keeper: 0

"Turn around."

Malik groaned and did as told. He propped his head up with his elbow and stared blankly at the thief.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"You wanted to talk."

"…No I didn't."

----------

"How do you think their doing?" Ryou inquired.

Mariku smirked, "I bet they're driving each other crazy."

"I hope Malik doesn't get too angry."

"He's been angry before."

"Sure."

"Sure what?"

"Nothing!"

"What is it?"

"Malik just has a bad temper. He's been angry, but you should see him when he has his rod."

"I thought he always has his rod."

"Seth has it."

"Really?"

"Of course. Seth has had his rod since Malik and I came here."

"I beg to differ."

"Why?"

"I saw it. It was really nice."

"You saw that Seth has it! Why are you…" He saw the perverted smirk on the blond's face and finally got it, "Mariku you are so nasty!"

"You just got that?"

"Yes, now kindly be quiet, _dear._"

"You look lovely in your dress, _darling_."

Ryou laughed and Mariku joined in.

----------

"What do you think they're doing?" Malik asked.

"Screwing like a good husband and wife."

"Yeah, right. You would kill Mariku."

"So would you."

"No, I would kill Ryou."

"Uh huh…But would they?"

"Of course not……Do you hear laughing?

"Yeah…"

"Do you think…?"

"No, Ryou would never…"

"Neither would Mariku…"

----------

"_Ah HAH!_"

Ryou and Mariku looked up to see Bakura and Malik standing in the doorway, their expressions were that of anger, then shock, then they rolled their eyes. "You made me worry for nothing!" They shouted at each other.

'What the hell is wrong with you?" Mariku said from his spot on the bed.

"We thought…"

"That you were…"

"Fucking?"

"Language, Bakura."

"Like you're any better, Malik."

"Um…We'll just go now." Malik dragged Bakura back to their room, leaving Ryou and Mariku to have an awkward silence before going to bed.

After quarreling for a bit longer, Malik and Bakura finally joined the rest of the palace in slumber.

------------------------------

Yay! Another part typed and posted! I won't be able to update quite as much now that band and school is starting soon, but I'll try and do a chapter every week, two weeks at the latest, savvy? Um that's about it, later peeps ;)


	12. Do you believe in magic?

The next two days went by slowly, but at the same time quickly. It depended on who you were at the moment. For the blonds, the day was far too long because of Atemu wanting to spend every possible moment with Malik. For the albinos, the day was too fast because they were able to spend as much time as they felt like together.

Isis had yet to tell the teens the details of her spell. Atemu was truly smothering Malik, making it impossible for anyone to get near them. She couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the pharaoh. It wasn't his fault that he had feelings for Malik, after all.

Malik, on the other hand, felt like he would finally come to the action of killing either himself or Atemu. Well, maybe not quite. Atemu just wanted love, and thought he had found it Malik.

The blond sighed. It was some hours after dinner, and Atemu wanted to sit in the garden by the pond. He, of course, obliged the pharaoh, and here they were. It was actually peaceful. The moon and stars were out. Atemu wasn't trying to hold a conversation, it was just nice silence. For a while, anyway.

"My father used to walk with me out here. I barely remember anything besides that about him."

Malik looked over at Atemu from his lying position on the ground. He was sitting against a tree, a serene smile making his handsome features quite charming. He looked back at Malik, holding eye contact.

Malik blushed, why must he be put in this position? It wasn't fair. Not very surprising, really, after everything else he had gone through. He turned his gaze to the pond, "I'm glad you have fond memories of him."

'_Unlike me…'_

"Yes, so am I. Your father seems like a decent man as well."

Malik chuckled, deciding not to comment on that.

Atemu's smile widened. Namu was truly mesmerizing. His laugh, smile, grin, voice, everything about him was simply Namu. And he loved that. Had he really found someone for him? Could Namu ever return his feelings? He seemed so shy, so reluctant to open up. Atemu wanted to make him do just that. For now, he would settle for friendship.

"It's getting late. We should go to bed."

Malik nodded, ecstatic at the thought of going back to his room, even if he must share with Bakura.

They stood up and walked back to the palace, continuing on until they reached the hall where they split up.

"Goodnight, Namu." Atemu leaned over and kissed his cheek before walking on. He grinned to himself, maybe not just friendship.

Malik touched his cheek. He hated it when Atemu did that. He never received any warning, just poof!

"Night…" He barely uttered and walked on. His heart felt heavy, and his mind felt guilty for deceiving Atemu so mercilessly. He didn't want to put on this façade any longer. Sure, they told Bakura and Mariku, but he still felt like crap.

Maybe some sleep would help. Reaching for the door knob, Malik opened the wooden barrier. He stepped inside the room to find all three teens waiting for him.

"What're you two doing here?" He asked, swallowing a yawn.

"I'm happy to see you too." Mariku said sourly, "What kept you so long?"

"Oh, nothing…just having a nice fuck with the pharaoh…" Malik grinned at his own comment as he looked for something to where to bed. _'Hell, I'll just where a kilt again…'_

"Do you people wear nothing but kilts?" He asked.

"Malik, don't joke about that."

"Kilts?"

"You know what I mean. Did you ever think about saying 'no' to the pharaoh?"

Malik turned to examine his lover for a few moments. Bakura and Ryou took those few moments to exit the room.

"Mariku, you know it's not real. You of all people should know that I'm just pretending. What's bothering you?"

The taller blond frowned and looked away, "Nothing."

Malik sighed again and changed into the white kilt. "Mariku, I know you better than that. Don't try to hide."

He only growled lightly.

Malik grinned and crawled over to him on the circle shaped bed. "You're such a baby."

"But Malik, you're _mine_. You're my habibi, and that bastard is keeping you all to himself."

"Mariku, we've only been here two day."

"Meh. Two days too long."

Malik hugged him, "I love you."

Mariku reluctantly (well, as reluctant as he could ever be) hugged him back; "I love you too. I'm just being jealous."

The smaller teen giggled, "I know."

"Is it safe to come in yet? I wanna get some sleep." Bakura had poked his head inside the door.

Mariku nodded, "Yeah, whatever. Night, Malik." He kissed Malik's forehead and left.

Malik lied there, thinking about the day's events. Until he was rudely shoved over by Bakura, "Hey!"

The thief shrugged, "You were hogging the bed."

"You're such a mean brother."

"I know. It's great."

"Gah. Night."

"Night, tomb keeper."

Atemu was fortunately not as clingy as the days before. He had other matters to attend to the next morning that didn't involve Malik. Not that anyone was complaining.

Isis finally had her chance to share her information. She led them back to her room after breakfast. Ryou noted with delight that it was filled with books and neat objects of all sorts. He stood and skimmed through everything while listening to the others.

The thieves plopped down on the bed without hesitation, while Malik sat on the window sill. One leg was hanging and the other stretched out, he was leaning against the side. Isis had simply taken her reading chair, picking up the book that held her little spells.

She flipped to the right page she had marked earlier, reading once again what she knew she had already memorized.

"So…can we pull this off?" Malik asked; hope blending with just a hint of desperation in his voice.

"I don't know. This is a rather…convoluted (that's a word you don't hear everyday!) spell. It's not really a spell, more like a ritual, which isn't my forte. I'm afraid that I'm not prepared enough to try and perform it."

She noticed her brother's face and added, "But not to worry, I know someone quite capable of such a task. Until that day comes, though, I shall help you get everything else into place. And I assure you, it could literally be some days."

"Why is that?"

She looked to the white haired thief, "There are requirements for this to work. You don't just chant some words and everything happens automatically. Which brings me to answer your question, but I must first ask another." She turned back to Malik, "What was the weather when you and Ryou were sent here?"

Ryou beat him to the punch, "It was storming." He then turned back to his inspecting.

"Well, in order for this to work, one requirement is for the weather to be the same coming back as it was leaving. Therefore, it must be raining. That may prove to be a hassle within itself, considering Egypt is usually very dry, and it's not the flood season."

Isis always had an air about her as if she knew exactly what was going on at all times, and from Malik's personal experience, she most likely did.

"So we just have to wait for rain. It couldn't be that long. What else is there?" Bakura asked.

"When someone performs this, they usually are only doing it for the original party, but we now have two extra people. That would be you two." She directed this at the partners in crime, "Both of you will have to be sent a different way. I'm not sure how yet because of the next big requirement. This would be near to impossible under other circumstances. This ritual needs much energy to complete since it has to do with time travel…That means a sacrifice."

"How are those two connected?" Mariku inquired, shifting his position on the bed.

"I'll tell you. You and Bakura must be sent the same way the sacrifice is. I don't know how that will work. We can't kill them, obviously, since that would mean killing you. So I suppose we'll just figure that out. Suggestions?"

"That depends on who or what the sacrifice is." Malik commented. He sent her a look that said for her to elaborate.

"The sacrifice must be living, but it must have a huge amount of power and energy, which rules out animals. If the pharaoh was the sacrifice, he would have more than enough oomph for the ritual. If not, it would take two people who wield millennium items."

"Who are all the people who hold millennium items?"

Isis sighed at Ryou's question, "We all know that Atemu holds the puzzle, while I have the necklace. Mahado has the ring, Seth has the rod, Akhenaden has the eye, Shadi has the key, and Kalim possesses the scale. I'm not counting on Seth, Kalim, or Akhenaden to be willing, which they must be."

"That sucks, who could possibly _want_ to do this?"

She smiled sadly, "I'm sure Shadi would. He owes me a life time of favors anyway. I would also be a willing participant."

A blond head snapped up, "Absolutely not. Are you mad? I'm not sacrificing my own sister!" Malik exclaimed, obvious annoyance in his tone.

"Malik, I'm simply suggesting all the options."

"Well, that's one option I'm not willing to resort to. It's not fair."

"And it's fair for Atemu? To be led on until he finds out that he's really just a part of your scheme?"

Malik had no answer for this. It seemed though that Ryou did, "It was meant to be."

All eyes turned to him.

"What was meant to be, pet?"

"Sacrificing Atemu. His life ended because he sealed himself inside the millennium puzzle. This was supposed to happen, us coming here. We just didn't know it until know. We'll seal Mariku, Bakura, and Atemu inside items. And they'll still be there when Malik and I get back. It's really very simple."

Malik grinned as Ryou turned around yet again as though he hadn't said a word. So he continued for the albino, "Ryou is right. Atemu could be sealed inside his puzzle."

"Yes, but what about us, habibi?"

"You, Mariku, would be sealed inside the rod while Bakura is in the ring. The two items that belonged to us."

Isis nodded in understanding. "There's only one problem. Seth hasn't been known to share his item, and there's the matter of Atemu actually agreeing to this."

"If there's a will, there's a way, and I know that I have will." Malik had a small twinkle in his eyes.

"You must have will, considering how long you were with the pharaoh yesterday." Bakura said and smirked.

Malik flipped him off. Isis and Ryou scolded Malik. Mariku defended his lover. Bakura smacked Mariku upside the head. Malik yelled at Bakura. Isis yelled at Malik to stop yelling while Bakura pleaded to Ryou for pity.

Ryou simply shook his head and left the room. Malik sat sulking as Isis lectured him, glaring at the thieves for holding in laughter. Bakura rolled his eyes, chuckled, and followed Ryou. A servant came and said Isis was needed. She left, leaving the blonds to have fun in her room, but were interrupted by Bakura, who had a nice laugh, until Malik began chasing him with a knife, who was chased by Ryou, which did no good, but Malik eventually became too tired to carry on so they sat outside and did other activities until the day ended.

---------- (That last part was really weird…) ----------

Bakura woke up the next morning completely worn out. He then felt something cuddled up to him. Assuming it was Ryou, he wrapped his arms around the body, which shifted to get closer.

"Goo'morning…" He slurred out. He received a grunt in response. Chuckling, he opened his eyes to see a young blond in his arms. His brows furrowed, Ryou's hair wasn't blond…unless…

"Holy shit!"

Malik shot up, "What!" He looked over at a disgusted Bakura.

"What the hell were you doing!"

"What are you talking about!"

"Cuddling up to me like that! I thought you were Ryou!"

"I was touching you? Eww…" Malik brushed invisible germs off of himself.

"Oh come on, I'm not that ugly." Bakura pouted.

"Not ugly, just stupid…" Malik smirked. He collapsed on the bed again, "Can I just stay here?"

"Probably not…"

"Well I'm not moving."

"Good morning!" Mariku ran in, jumping on the bed.

Ryou followed shortly after. "Something is going on that we don't know about."

Malik perked up, "Why do you say that?"

"Well, there's a lot of commotion going on in the hall."

Ok guys, I know that this is SO short and the ending was rather weird and the chapter title had almost nothing to do with the chapter, please forgive me! After my last update I had band camp for a week from 9 am to 9 pm, then school started right after that, and it's just been hustle and bustle since then with new classes and marching band. I plan for the next chapter to be longer, but it depends on my schedule.

I'll answer all reviewers in my next update, sorry I couldn't this time, please review anyway? I luv you all!


	13. Malik is Such a Pimp

Hey guys! I'm glad no one was upset over the last chapter, although that's something rather silly to get mad over, ne?

OK, I'm SO sorry about the update delay, I've had a bunch of homework, band (which seems to take up my life), choir (which is taking up a slightly smaller portion of my life), and of course my lovely family. We had our 1st competition last weekend, and came in 2nd T.T Then our 2nd contest was canceled! But then last Saturday we had a contest in Cleveland, TN, and we came in 1st place! . So that made me very pleased.

Fall break is this week for us, so maybe I can get out another chapter after this one to make up for time, ne? Plus our variety show is over, so I now have Wed again. A good thing about marching band is that it doesn't last forever. For some people that's a bad thing. I like it while it lasts, and I enjoy the time I have when it stops.

Anyway, I won't keep you waiting any longer, and as promised, here are the responses to my amazing peeps!

**Mewchoochoo**: Yes, the Ishtal family has many issues that they should seek counseling for XD hmm, voila, fancy word indeed…

**Yamisgirl13**: At first I was going to have Bakura playing the mother, but then I thought 'No, he's not feminine enough' So you see why Ryou is the mom lol

**Poenalime: **'Evil laughter' Muahaha, yes, I luv making cliff hangers :) Free suspense for everyone!

**Tsuki-Neko-Chan: **Oooo you're a smart cookie! To be or not to be a yami, that is the question ;)

**AnimeLoverAngel**: I think it's pretty funny how mad everyone is at Atemu ee I also thought it was pretty funny how I made you forget to eat…

**Lara-Ruin: **I was afraid you guys would think two weeks is too long, thanks for reassuring me(although it's been a month . )!

**Shadowweaver666: **I hate reading funny stuff when my parents are here cuz they ask me what I'm reading and I'm just like '…Nothing!' lol I enjoy the Marik/

Bakura scenes too ;)

**Muse of Sarcasm: **That was an…interesting review…thank you XD…

**Sira Black: **The Ishtal family IS utterly insane, that's why we luv them!

**MalusineDarkness: **Glad it was interesting :) Thank you!

-----------------------------

Ryou followed shortly after. "Something is going on that we don't know about."

Malik perked up, "Why do you say that?"

"Well, there's a lot of commotion going on in the hall."

-----

The next ten minutes were spent trying to get to the dining room in one piece. It was like a maze trying to weave through all the servants who were carrying various objects to and fro.

All was quiet at the table when they arrived. The high priests were stiffer and seemed more paranoid than usual, snapping at any terrified servant who made the slightest mistake in their current task. Atemu was the only normal one, but he seemed more cheerful instead of tense.

Malik leaned over to the side and whispered, "Isis, what the heck is going on?"

She merely smiled, "The pharaoh's birthday is two days away. Everyone is getting ready for the celebration. It's one of the most important occasions that happen every year."

"Am I supposed to get him a gift?"

"No, you're a guest. You didn't know, so nothing is expected of you four except to attend the party and do as Atemu asks."

Malik bit his lip. Was this good or bad? He hadn't the slightest clue as to how he would convince Atemu to help him and Ryou. Maybe this could be a blessing in disguise.

Atemu couldn't stop smiling. He felt a bit idiotic. Whenever Namu was around, this happened. He turned nineteen in two days, and he planned on using it to his full advantage. He had already bonded with Namu; Atemu's next task would be his father.

-----

Mariku was walking down the hall way. It was bright and sunny as always; the sun's rays came through and shined down on his already light colored hair. He was about to turn a corner when he heard his name being called. Turning around, he was semi surprised to see the pharaoh behind him.

"Can I help you with something, sire?"

Atemu shook his head, smiling profusely, "I just saw you and wanted to talk if you're not busy."

How Mariku longed to say that he was busy, any excuse would do to get away. But he cracked a smile and shook his own head, "I have nothing at the moment. What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I don't know. Anything really. Walk with me?" It was more of a command, so Mariku obeyed.

"How did your first wife die?"

How blunt. Mariku answered just as bluntly, "She was found stabbed to death in an alley."

Atemu frowned sadly, "It must have been traumatic."

"It was."

"How did Namu take it?"

"He was rather quiet afterwards, but otherwise seemed alright. He's strong enough."

"It's uncanny how much the two of you look alike. I'm sure you've heard that before."

"Countless times."

"Namu is a good boy, a good person."

"How would you know that?"

"You don't think so?"

"Of course I do, but I'm his father. You barely know him. He is a good boy. I'm sure he'll make the perfect husband for a lucky young lady someday."

Was it just the light, or did Madani just have an evil smile on his face? And was his voice suddenly defensive? Atemu frowned, "What if he married someone other than the opposite sex?"

Mariku held back a growl, but that didn't stop the displeased look, "My son doesn't like boys. If he did, I wouldn't approve of it anyway."

"But-"

"Good afternoon, my pharaoh." A tender voice greeted cheerfully.

Neither had noticed Ryou walking down the same hall toward them.

Atemu nodded, "Good afternoon, Mrs. Ishtal."

She smiled sweetly, "May I please borrow my husband?" She was just too gentle and charismatic to be denied anything.

"Of course."

"It was good talking with you, pharaoh." There was that evil smile again.

"Yeah, you too." He watched the couple walk away. That hadn't gone quite as he planned. Namu's father didn't like homosexuals. That wasn't good. Maybe it was all in the approach. Yes, Atemu would win his son over, and they would take it from there. Madani would see.

"Thanks, Ryou. I think I was going to crack." Mariku said once they were out of earshot.

Ryou giggled lightly, "No problem. Isis asked me to fetch you."

"How come?"

"She wants us to meet the person who will be conducting the ritual. She told me to round up everyone and meet her in the library."

They found Malik and Bakura in their room. They had been discussing random topics, many of which ended up in debates. It seemed that neither ego could out match the other no matter who was right or wrong. It was probably a good thing that their lovers came to distract them.

Walking into the library, Malik grabbed the collar of Ryou's dress before he could get lost in the world of books. "You can't read Egyptian anyway."

Ryou frowned, having forgotten that the books weren't in English or Japanese. Speaking a language was one thing, reading and writing it was another. He sighed in defeat.

Isis immediately came over, smiling, "Good afternoon, everyone."

The boys smiled and nodded in response.

"It is my pleasure to introduce to you to a fine young lady. She's a dear friend of mine, and a powerful magician."

"Isis, you're making me blush." A young woman stepped put from behind a book shelf. Malik noted her close resemblance to the dark magician girl, but she had brown hair instead of blond and the standard tan.

"This is Mana."

Mana nodded to everyone, a big smile on her face.

Bakura had to go and voice his thoughts, "Uh, Isis, no offense, but I had the impression that this was going to be a man."

Isis simply laughed, "Mana is one of the strongest people in all of Egypt. Gender has nothing to do with the matter at hand. I've already explained the situation, and Mana has told me that she feels more than ready for it."

Again, the said girl nodded, "So you're the two our pharaoh has been after?"

They smirked arrogantly, letting her know the answer without words.

A mischievous grin came to her, but she remained silent.

Malik liked her. She seemed confident in a humbling way. He loved to flaunt his power and talents. "Why haven't I seen you before?"

"Oh, I'm not usually with everyone. I prefer practicing magic or being in the temples or the city. Isis said she needed a special favor, so of course I had to come. But if you'll excuse me, I must go to a temple at this moment. It was a pleasure to meet all of you."

They all said good bye, splitting up yet again for the remainder or the day. Poor Ryou stayed in the library and tried in vain to decipher the foreign text.

----------

The next day was rather hectic, with everyone doing last minute things for the pharaoh's celebration and people arriving. Malik was, of course, introduced to them all as a special friend of Atemu, which made them start sucking up to the blond to get on the pharaoh's good side. Half off the guests would be staying in the corridor of the teens' bedrooms, so they knew they couldn't do anything suspicious lest their game of pretend would be over too soon.

"So how do you think tomorrow will go?" Malik asked as he sat on the bed shared by him and the white haired thief.

Bakura shrugged, "How any day goes always depends on the pharaoh."

The blond sighed. Would Atemu want anything special for his birthday? Like a certain something Malik wasn't prepared to dish out? He outwardly cringed at the idea.

"Hey, it'll be ok, tomb keeper. Don't be so pessimistic all the time." Bakura grinned. He lied down on his side, propping his head up with his arm.

Malik yawned cutely, "I don't try to be, I'm usually not actually. This place is just…doing things to me." He pouted at the other.

Bakura merely kept his grin, "You can't pull that off like Ryou."

"I'm sure I could for Mariku."

"I would _hope _you could."

Malik rolled his eyes and snuggled down in the covers. Once comfortable he smiled, "Night, Bakura."

"Night, tomb keeper."

-----

"Do you think Mana is as good as Isis says she is?"

Ryou looked up at the thief. He saw that Mariku looked uneasy, "I think she'll do just fine. Why do you ask?"

Mariku's frown widened, "I don't know. The pharaoh's birthday is tomorrow. I just…have a bad feeling about it," he gave a somewhat nervous laugh, "but maybe I'm just being paranoid."

Ryou nodded, "We're all a bit on edge, Mariku, but we're also all here for each other. Everything will be fine. I promise."

-----

(((((Later the next day)))))

"Everything is going to be a disaster! Atemu will find out, I know he will, and we'll spend the rest of our lives in prison!" This was the tenth out burst at least from Malik. For an hour his three companions had sat and watched him pace around the room, occasionally commenting. When they came out of Malik's bedroom, they would have to go down to the ball room where Atemu's party was taking place.

But they didn't have to go until a servant came around to all the rooms and said so.

"Dammit, Malik, stop pacing! I already have a head ache." Bakura groaned, lightly massaging his temples.

"I can't! I have too much nervous energy, and it's Namu, not Malik…Do I look ok?"

Ryou couldn't help but giggle, "You look good. Silver is a nice change."

Malik had on the same jewelry he usually wore in silver instead of gold, his arm bands, neck bands, and ear rings. He had also put on the same outfit he was wearing when he and Ryou came-his black pants and purple pull over. Hey, it was a party. Every now and then he would rush to the bathroom and inspect himself in the mirror.

He was just about to go on another inspection trip when Mariku grabbed his wrist and pulled Malik to him.

Malik blushed, "What?"

Mariku frowned, "You know you're getting too worked up."

"I'm sorry." Malik rested his head on Mariku's shoulder.

"It's fine. I want to discuss the pharaoh."

A lump formed in the smaller blonde's throat. "Yes?"

"Just how much are you willing to do in order to secure the return trip to Japan?"

"What do you mean?"

Bakura chimed in, "He means would you fuck the pharaoh to get back to your home?"

Malik's mouth hung slightly open. He had run this so many times in his head, of everything that could happen tonight. He sneakily scooted closer to the thief.

Ryou perked up at this question, waiting for his best friend's answer.

"**What do you think, Ryou?"**

Ryou looked surprised. He and Malik hadn't spoke in Japanese since they first left Haniya's home. **"I don't know. I could never do that to Bakura."**

"**You think I want to? I wish I never met Atemu."**

"**It depends on…how desperate we get, I suppose. I don't know if Atemu would put you in that position."**

Mariku frowned intensely, "What are you not telling me?"

A knock at the door silenced any more talking. Malik pulled away just as Nasab poked his head through the door. "The party awaits, gentlemen." He smirked. "Good luck."

They came out into the hall way and began walking.

"NAMU!"

Malik jumped at the voice, wincing as he recognized who was running to him. It was princess Tea, heir to the Nubian throne. She was an especially annoying suck up, not because of her personality, but because she was even more clingy than Atemu.

He plastered a fake smile on his handsome features, "Good evening, princess."

She giggled, "I told you to call me Tea! Will you escort me to the ball room pretty please?"

Mariku held back any comments and objections that came to his head. He knew that she had developed an infatuation with Malik as well. '_When I fell in love with Malik, I didn't sign up to compete with the entire kingdom!'_ He thought bitterly. When Malik looked to him for permission, he only nodded curtly.

His blond lover sent him a quick apologetic look before he was whisked (dragged against his will) away by the brunette. Bakura touched his shoulder, but Mariku roughly pulled away and walked ahead of the albino couple.

Ryou sighed. He had been secretly afraid of the drama taking place; afraid of it unraveling until something went terribly wrong and they couldn't fix it. So far everything had been going fairly smoothly. He only hoped it would hold.

"I should go with him. It will look strange if we don't go in together."

Bakura nodded at Ryou's suggestion. At that Ryou caught up with Mariku, who didn't seem too happy, but with a sentence or two from his 'wife' he simply sighed in acceptance.

"I hope the party goes well. It would be such a shame, after it took so long to get here! I hope Atemu likes my present. I think I'll cry if he doesn't. You know what I got him? A baby hippo!"

Malik chose to not express his thoughts when it came to Tea's idea of a gift for a nineteen year old. What on earth would the pharaoh do with a hippo?

"Because they're just TOO cute, and maybe he can train it to do tricks!"

Almost there. Maybe he could ditch her and Atemu and hide under a table. Hide under a table with Mariku. Do _other_ things under that table with Mariku…

"By the way, I love your clothes! Where did you get them?"

"Oh, my brother had them hand tailored for me in Nubia."

"How interesting! They look much more comfortable than what all the other guys wear, you know because they…"

This girl just wouldn't be quiet. Oh, thank Ra; they were at the double doors. Yet she was still latched on his arm. Oh well, at least she wasn't a complete idiot.

"Is Atemu looking for a wife? He's very cute. I would love to have someone as cute as him for a boyfriend. I bet you could any girl you wanted with that hair of yours. Has anyone ever told you how feminine you look? But it's very cute. You shouldn't be so shy, other wise you'll never meet anyone new. Namu…are you listening to me?"

Malik snapped out of his thoughts, "Yes, I'm listening."

She seemed pretty content with his answer, so she went on. Malik looked around the room. Over in one corner was a stack of gifts, all of various sizes. He couldn't seem to find the baby hippo though-oh wait, there it was. A guard was busy trying to keep it quiet with food. The animal only cried more, making the guard get snapped at by Seth. Malik chuckled wickedly. Stupid guard.

After the hippo was quiet, everything else was, too. Only small murmurs were heard as they waited for Atemu.

He saw Isis from across the room. As if on cue she looked up and made eye contact. He mouthed the words 'help me'. She simply smiled and made her way over like a good sister.

"Good evening, princess Tea. Sorry to interrupt, but I need to speak with my brother. You don't mind, do you?"

The girl looked disappointed, but knew better than to displease a priestess. She nodded and let go of Malik's arm.

"Thanks, Isis."

"No problem. I actually do need you. Why don't you go talk to Seth?"

Malik frowned, "That was random."

"Well, I've been thinking about it. We need the rod, Malik, and I'm not close to Seth. I've tried talking to him, but he's very distant."

A sigh escaped from his lips. "Fine. What about Mahado?"

Her eyes twinkled a bit, a warm smile overcoming the priestess, "Don't worry about Mahado. Shadi and he are good friends. I've spoken with Shadi, and he has agreed to help with Mahado. They're both good men."

Malik grinned, "Is Isis in a relationship with a certain high priest? Like Shadi?"

Isis looked away, blushing heavily, "Don't be ridiculous. Shadi is like a brother to me." She shoved Malik in the direction of Seth before he could tease her any further, "Go get him, tiger. Good luck."

He slightly scowled, but went anyway. He knew Isis was hiding more than she let on about Shadi.

Shaking it off, he set his attention on another of the priests. Seth was really not a social person. Malik had only seen him talking to the pharaoh and possibly the servants. He was either that big of a dork or that big of an ass hole. He was guessing the latter.

Seth stood proud and tall, intimidating anyone within twenty yards. Malik could definitely feel the arrogance, attitude, and most of all, power, radiating off the brunette. He hadn't gotten along too swimmingly with Kaiba after almost wrecking his entire tournament. But at least he had a clean slate this time.

Isis hadn't told Malik how to approach him. Friendly, sexy, indifferently, all three? Seth had noticed him walking over, and now stood with his arms crossed and a slender brow rose.

Malik gave a flirty smile, somewhere between seduction and being innocently happy.

"Hi, Seth."

"Can I help you with something?" His tone was cold.

"I just saw you standing over here and thought you looked lonely. Do you never talk to anyone?"

He smirked, "As if there was anyone here worth talking to. Everyone here is a rich moron…or a petty moocher." He sent a look to Malik with the last part.

It took him a moment to take it in, and then glared, "I am not a moocher. Given the choice, I wouldn't be here."

"_Really now_." The smirk came back, but this time it was almost playful, "So you want nothing from the pharaoh?" His voice wasn't as icy.

Well, he did want _something_, but who was in control of this conversation? "Atemu is simply a friend."

Seth sat down at the table behind them and chuckled.

Malik sat on the table, "What's so funny?"

"Atemu. He is so naïve to think that you two could possibly be together. It would never work out. Although, maybe he should announce his undying 'love' for you. His ass would be kicked out of here so fast it's almost not funny."

Malik smirked, "How did you know he liked me?"

The priest rolled his eyes, "It's way too obvious. But then, I am family. Some pretty guy with marks on his back comes in and the pharaoh immediately thinks he's something special. Something different from everyone else."

"Well maybe I am different."

"So you harbor the same feelings for him?"

"Not exactly."

"I thought so. So why are you staying?"

"I have no other choice."

"Atemu _is_ pretty obsessed with you. I couldn't put up with it. I'll give you that much credit."

"Thanks. How would you feel about Atemu giving up the throne for me?"

"I'm his cousin. I would become pharaoh the moment he was gone. It's about time we had something better anyway. So it would work out pretty well for me."

So much for family coming first.

Malik had switched positions to lie on his stomach, facing Seth. "So you do want to be the new pharaoh."

Seth smirked again, "I didn't word it exactly like that. You can't quote me."

Malik matched his smirk and chuckled, "You're probably the sneakiest priest in the palace."

"I do what I can."

-----

Tea had found Bakura and made him her new slave. Meanwhile Mariku and Ryou sat together, being bored. They had lot sight of Malik a while back. Ryou was scanning the room when he suddenly saw him and gasped.

Mariku looked up from his sulking, "What is it?"

Ryou didn't answer, just kept staring wonderingly in the same direction.

Mariku followed his gaze. His face immediately went from self pity anger. Malik was in a very secluded corner of the room, chatting away with Seth, whom he didn't trust at all. AND Malik was lying on the table like a little slut. Oh, he looked like he was having a blast with Seth over there.

"What the hell is he doing?" Bakura had freed himself from the princess and now watched as they did. Malik licked his lips very sensually and laughed (Kura has good eye sight). A vein on Mariku's forehead stuck out very visibly. Bakura forced himself to not laugh for fear of what his partner might do.

-----

"I might be able to help you with your problem." Malik suggested, biting his lip afterwards in a taunting manner.

"What exactly could you help me with?" Seth looked suddenly very interested. He removed his head dress, exposing those well kept locks of chocolate hair.

Malik noticed his eyes for the first time, whether he was here or five thousand years ahead. They were a brilliant shade of blue, and they were so…pretty.

"Something interesting?"

Malik mentally slapped himself, "Sorry. I mean that I can help you become the pharaoh. And very soon too."

His eyes flashed, "How would you do that?"

The smirk found its way back to the blonde's lips. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

"I'd rather find out right now. I'd also like knowing the catch."

A grin replaced the smirk, "Why do you assume there's a catch?"

"Why would I assume there wasn't one?"

Malik nodded, "Fair enough. The only thing I need is your rod. And by that I mean millennium."

The priest gave a deep, rich chuckle, "Damn. I was hoping for the other meaning."

They both laughed. Malik liked this Seth better than Seto despite his appearance. Actually, his appearance was rather alluring, but that was all Malik could ever care for in the priest. It would only be a physical one night stand; the person who stole his heart as well as body was sitting in another place in this room

Speaking of his lover…Malik casually glanced around to see his Mariku glaring daggers at him and Seth both. He gave the tiniest of squeaks and hurriedly faced Seth again.

"So I become pharaoh and you get the rod?"

A blond brow rose, "Did I say that?"

"That's what it sounded like."

"Well, yes and no. I do need the rod to get what I want, but only for a short time. You'll be able to keep it and become pharaoh all in one. Just let me borrow it, when the time comes, and one extra small favor, but for now that's it. No real work on your part."

"So…mooching and plotting. There's more to you than meets the eye, Ishtal."

"Good to know."

"What do you get out of this, anyway?"

"Nothing concerning you. Do we have a deal?" Malik held out his hand, waiting for him to shake it.

Instead, Seth grabbed his chin, pulling him into a sweet, forceful lip lock that lasted only moments. Before Malik could react, Seth had already stood up. "Deal, Ishtal. See you around." He ruffled the blond hair before putting his head dress back on and walking away.

Malik quickly wiped his mouth on his arm and stood up. He had to not look at Mariku, anything to do besides Mariku, please let him not have seen! His eyes couldn't help but glance in that direction. Oh yes. Mariku was pissed far more than Malik thought.

It wasn't supposed to happen. He would blame Isis for making him talk to him. That's it. He was taken by surprise anyway. Malik couldn't have done anything to stop him. He would explain that, and Mariku would understand. He was forgiving, even though he killed his father.

Malik shook his head. He was making too big of a deal out of this. He walked over to the long table of refreshments, grabbed an alcoholic drink, and downed it in five seconds.

-----

Ryou flinched at Seth's abrupt action. At least Malik hadn't acted as if he enjoyed it. Well of course he didn't enjoy it! He looked over at Mariku. The thief's hand was clenched so tightly Ryou could see blood dripping freely from it.

"Madani!"

Mariku looked up to glare at whoever had said his name. It was Ryou, pointing to his hand. He looked at it, noticing the crimson liquid. He sighed and grabbed a handful of napkins, holding it to his new wound.

"Madani, you can't over react like this." Bakura rolled his eyes.

Mariku glared further, "I haven't said anything."

Ryou sighed, "You don't have to."

"You saw what happened. Seth totally surprised him, it wasn't Namu's fault." Bakura said in an attempt to comfort his partner and help Malik out.

"I know, I know. I can't help getting..."

"Murderous?" Bakura chuckled.

Ryou smiled softly, making him look even more womanly than he already did. The candle lit room helped too.

"When will that idiot pharaoh get here?" Mariku growled out, "This is boring. I'm angry and my patience is wearing thin for that birthday buffoon."

"Speak a little louder; I don't think everyone in Nubia heard you." Bakura commented with much dry sarcasm.

"He shouldn't be much longer, now that everyone is here." Ryou chimed.

"I'm going to find Seth and suffocate him, and then offer him to Ra as a sacrifice for permission to kill the pharaoh."

Bakura laughed heartily, "Ra, Madani, you just can't move on from one thing, can you?"

"Well what if he came onto Ryou?"

"I would castrate him fully conscience, take his rod for multiple uses, and then give him a slow, painful death for however long he could last after that. You know-the usual fun."

Ryou paled as they laughed with each other, not sure whether to be flattered at their devotion or disturbed.

"Ladies, and gentlemen, thank you for your patience." Isis was talking on a small raised portion of the floor, beaming and shining with radiance. "We all know why we're here. It's a very special day and I hope it continues on far into the night. If you would all give a warm welcome for the presence of our guest of honor, it is my pleasure to present to you the ruler of Egypt, Pharaoh Atemu!"

Applause went all around the room as Atemu stepped through the door. He wore his usual apparel, plus a few more pieces of jewelry here and there. He looked as handsome as always, wearing a warm smile for all of his friends and guests.

He made eye contact with Malik for a moment and winked. Malik blushed and averted his eyes.

The clapping died down, and Atemu held up a glass of wine. "Friends, acquaintances, I thank you all for attending my birthday celebration. It's always a day of the year that everyone looks forward to, me for the presents, and you for all the free food."

Chuckles filled the air. Ryou giggled a bit but was scolded by Bakura.

"Anyway, another year of my life is gone, and with that, another year of prosperity for my people, and hopefully for that of neighboring countries as well. The future is unknown, but I welcome it with open arms. With that said, I propose a toast. To the success of rulers, countries, and man alike, let the celebration begin!"

Almost everyone drank to that, save for the two thieves in the room. Shadows began dancing as the music played. Sweet lullabies flowed through the air, calling to anyone who heard its tune. People danced and laughed, making each of the four teens wonder what the party would bring, each a different thought on their mind. The night had truly begun.

------------

The end! Muahaha. So what did you think, kiddies? As for myself, I was rather pleased with the results for once. The Seth part was like _'as if you didn't see it coming'_ lol. So review, dance, sing, whatever makes you happy! You know I luv you all! ;)


	14. It's ok, you're worth it

As promised, I'm skipping the blah, and going into the story. Thanks to all who shared their confusion with me lol. Enjoy…

-----

Almost everyone drank to that, save for the two thieves in the room. Shadows began dancing as the music played. Sweet lullabies flowed through the air, calling to anyone who heard its tune. People danced and laughed, making each of the four teens wonder what the party would bring, each a different thought on their mind. The night had truly begun.

-----

Malik watched as couples started to form on the dance floor. The tune was very pretty. He randomly hummed bits and pieces of it to himself. _'I should go talk to Mariku. It won't be suspicious; I'll just be speaking with my father.'_

He scanned the room, but couldn't find the table they had been sitting at. The blond sighed cutely.

"Looking for them?"

Malik jumped at the sudden deep voice that was beside him. Turning around, it was only Bakura, to his disappointment. "Dammit Ba-Ryou, don't do that."

Bakura said nothing. He raised his hand and pointed. Malik followed the direction that Bakura's finger indicated and saw that Mariku and Ryou had already begun dancing with one another.

"Sorry, didn't mean to agitate the pharaoh's pet." The smirk that accompanied his statement just tore Malik up.

He frowned and crossed his arms. "I am _not _his pet. Why don't you go find Tea and leave me alone? I'm pretty sure you like both genders, anyway."

"Yeah, but you don't like my company?"

"I would, but we go through this bull every time we talk."

"You're such a pussy, can't even add 'shit' to the end of it. Besides, _bull shit_ never gets old."

Malik sent him an annoyed look. "To you."

A pair of eyebrows rose. "Oh? Fine then. We can talk about something real. Like how real that _kiss_ was that you had with Seth."

"Fuck, you saw that?"

Bakura smacked the back of his head, "We all saw it, sweetie. Your father wasn't too happy either."

"I know; I saw _him_. Did Haniya say anything about it?"

"She knows it was an accident. Madani is a different story. But what exactly were you talking about, anyway?"

Malik gave a small smile and actually didn't glare at Bakura as he spoke. "We don't have to worry about having the rod anymore."

Bakura smiled too. "Well, Namu pulled through for us. His flirting skills have struck yet again. Being so feminine must really come in handy."

"Oh, shut up. Ryou is just as feminine as me."

"Ryou is cute when he does it."

"Then what the hell am I?"

"All the forms of the word 'slut'."

Malik smirked. "You know you like it, thief."

The said thief rolled his eyes. "Of course; there's nothing I'd like more than to fuck my brother."

"Step brother."

Bakura merely chuckled at the correction. "By the way, you need acting lessons."

Malik crossed his arms. He didn't take kindly to criticism. "And just _why_ do you say that?"

"Look, you said yourself that if we need to pull this off, we need to make it convincing." Bakura shrugged. "I'm just saying that if I were the pharaoh, I wouldn't be fooled by your little innocent routine."

Malik would've sweat dropped had he been an anime character. "So you think you can act better than me? You're so full of it."

Bakura wasn't paying attention. "Look, your sweat heart is dancing with Princess Happy. How cute."

Tea seemed to have tricked Atemu into dancing with her. Malik smirked. Atemu really was too nice for his own good. Isis was also dancing with Shadi, and Mana with Mahado. Seth kept his ground away from everyone like usual.

"You know what she got him for his birthday?"

"Enlighten me." Bakura picked up a drink and brought to his lips.

"A baby hippo."

Any liquid that had made it inside Bakura's mouth was immediately sent back into the cup from his laughter. "Holy shit, don't tell me things like that when I'm drinking…!" He suddenly noticed the piece of jewelry around Malik's neck. "Is that new? Because I don't remember you having it when we first met."

Malik brought out the rest of the necklace from underneath his shirt. It was the one with the purple gem that Mariku had given him. He had rarely even thought about it since that night.

"I remember that necklace." The thief stated casually.

Malik looked at him inquisitively. "How would you?"

"I just remember Mariku seeing it at some stand and wanting it. So he stole it like a good little thief. Of course the next day he saw something else and forgot all about it. But it looks good on you, so maybe he was destined to give it to you or something." He laughed at his own words. "Do you believe in destiny, Ishtar?"

"If you becoming a forced part of my life were destiny, then no."

Bakura grinned whole heartedly. "Same for you, Namu. At least you have _some_ sense though. A real man makes his own destiny."

Malik nodded. "And those who say its real are simply finding an excuse for the fact that they're weak and indecisive. You have to know what you want."

Bakura lightly punched his shoulder in a true brother like manner. "You're not as blonde as you look."

"Thanks. You don't act as old as you look with that white hair." Malik smirked playfully.

Bakura was about to respond, but their conversation was suddenly interrupted when a dancer suddenly made her way to the brothers to show off her expertise. She was one of a few others dispersed throughout the room. Long blond hair swished to and fro above a more than busty figure. While Malik looked slightly grossed out, Bakura seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself.

"What's wrong, hun? Anything I can help with?" She asked Malik from behind the see through cloth that covered the lower half of her face. Malik noticed that she had purple eyes, extremely familiar purple eyes…

"Mai?"

She appeared slightly confused, "How do you know my name?"

He grinned from ear to ear, "Lucky guess. But no, you can't really help me with my problem. I'm sure my brother would love you though." He indicated Bakura with a nod his head.

She smirked and obeyed, leading Bakura to the rest of the couples. Bakura followed as if he had never seen a woman before, forgetting all about Malik and their previous conversation.

Malik laughed as he saw Ryou look over and quickly look away again, blushing. Mariku merely smirked, when he by chance made eye contact with Malik.

The smaller blond felt his heart quicken and his breath catch for a moment. It then sank when Mariku stared at him icily. Malik opened his mouth, preparing to mouth the words 'I'm sorry'.

Another couple suddenly came between them before Malik could do so. The blonde sighed and downed another glass. Maybe if he drank enough he could pretend it was Mariku he was screwing instead of Atemu. Wait, who said anything about that? Atemu wasn't expecting anything of him...

"You don't look too happy." It was Isis, standing next to Shadi. Shadi appeared as if he would rather be doing something alone with Isis instead of speaking with her brother.

The blonde gave a very poor attempt at a smile, "Of course I am."

Isis smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry you're in a sad mood, little brother. How did things go with Seth?"

Malik shrugged indifferently so she wouldn't guess what really happened. "I got him to give me the rod."

She looked surprised at this response.

Shadi even more so, "You have it right now?"

Malik couldn't help but smirk slightly. "No, but he'll give it to me when I tell him to."

She nodded approvingly. "Well done, Namu. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks. You can go back to dancing if you want."

Shadi nodded immediately and led Isis away before she could answer. Malik smiled at the couple, they were normal. A nice, typical couple consisting of a man and woman that seemed much happier than him at the moment; they smiled at each other as the music moved them.

Malik suddenly felt lightheaded. The blond went over and sat at a table to watch the events unfurl. Atemu went from partner to partner, whenever asked, like a polite pharaoh should. Some couples like Mariku and Ryou, and Isis and Shadi, stayed together.

His eyes wondered to the corner where Seth was. He looked back and, smirking, blew a kiss to Malik. Malik smirked as well. He put his hand up, caught it, and then tossed it over his shoulder as if it meant nothing. Seth made a hurt face. Malik stuck his tongue out. Once both had grinned, they broke eye contact before people noticed the silent exchange.

People would occasionally come and chat with him, commenting on his clothes and whatnot. He didn't really care what they were saying, since it was mostly small talk. Until a certain best friend of Malik's came over, that is. He hadn't even noticed that they had stopped dancing.

Ryou came and sat beside him, his expression slightly afraid and nervous at once. "Your father wants to speak with you alone. He's waiting for you in the bathroom."

Malik's stomach flipped over. "What about?"

Ryou shook his head. "You already know what. Good luck."

He nodded and stood up. "Uh, which bathroom?"

-----

There was a bathroom in the hall way outside the party room that they let the guards use on their breaks. There was no one out there, which must have been why Mariku chose it. It was also why Malik was so nervous. He took a breath and silently prayed before opening the door and stepping inside.

Mariku was leaning against the sink, lost in his own thoughts. He turned his head at the sound of the door, his face darkening with an eerie smirk that made Malik's hair stand o end.

Malik hurriedly shut the door behind him. "You wanted to talk?" His voice, usually so sure of itself, gave way to anxiousness.

Mariku looked away from Malik and turned around to face the mirror. "I was just wondering…what the hell is going on?" He was pissed. Malik had at least three other people after him, and Mariku would be damned if he was about to lose what he worked so hard on getting.

His question was met with silence. He turned his head to look at the other blonde. Malik didn't look like he was about to say anything else. He sighed. "Malik, give me one reason why I shouldn't bash Seth's head in, or the pharaoh's for that matter."

Malik felt like he had spilt something red all over his bed sheets and was now being questioned by his father. And his father always hated when Malik didn't answer. "So we can go home and be away from all this."

Mariku closed his eyes so he wouldn't roll them. "Were we not away from all this back at our place? Why go through the trouble of all this to be back where we started? The only difference would be time."

Malik thought this over. Home had been all he thought about almost this whole time, that and how to get there. But why? Why was the modern world so much more appealing? There were tons of reasons. His family was there. His and Ryou's friends were probably freaking out, unless when they got back no time had elapsed since they left. Modern day science, machinery, education, food…

"I want to go back to my world…so I can share it with you." He finally answered simply, a small smile daring to work its way to his lips.

He then noticed the cuts on Mariku's palm. Concern immediately took over. "What happened?" Malik went over and grabbed the hand without waiting for an answer, examining the wound.

Mariku chuckled dryly. "I accidentally did that while you and Seth had your little conversation."

Malik frowned. "You shouldn't worry so much. I already told you that I wasn't planning on leaving you anytime soon. Seth was just another obstacle I had to get past. Have you done anything else to yourself?"

"Not yet, but I don't think I'm too far from being crazy. Am I just another obstacle too?"

Malik gave him a look. "I think you already know."

"Do I? That's how it seemed when we first met."

"That's because you _were_ an obstacle then. If it had stayed that way you would be moping over my absence at your house."

The taller of the two smirked. "Who said I would be moping? Maybe I would be happy."

Malik mimicked his smirk. "It's hard to buy that when you've been so jealous the past few days."

"I wouldn't be so jealous if you weren't so attractive to everyone here."

"Does that include you?"

"Perhaps. Can I have my hand back now?"

Malik hadn't realized that he was still holding Mariku's hand. He blushed and let it go. "We should probably get back."

"Of course; we wouldn't want your followers to worry."

"Exactly." With a blown kiss, Malik left the bathroom.

Mariku shook his head. At least he had more faith in their relationship now. He smiled. Malik had him and the entire palace wrapped around his little finger and didn't even realize it. Well, he really did, but Mariku chose to believe the opposite so he would feel better.

Malik walked out of the bathroom, only to walk straight into Atemu. "I'm so sorry, my pharaoh!"

Atemu grinned. "I was actually just wondering where you were, Namu. And call me Atemu."

"Right. I just wanted to take a walk. I was just now coming back."

Atemu nodded. "Well, since we're already out here, why don't we stay out here? We could talk in my room; I need to speak with you, anyway."

"Of course…Atemu."

The walk to his room was silent. They finally reached it, going in just as silently. Malik once again found himself not being able to say anything, but this time to a different person.

The room was, of course, marvelous. Under other circumstances Malik would've fully taken it in. Atemu sat on the bed. Malik followed suit, waiting for whatever came next. He then remembered what the thief had said about acting. He would show Bakura who could act.

"Namu…I have to tell you this." Atemu was another year older, and another year wiser. He was aware of the consequences if caught in this sort of affair, but it was worth the risk. Namu was worth the risk.

Namu sat there beautifully. Did he realize how much Atemu needed him? Well, he would find out now. "Namu, ever since you came here, my life…has had more meaning. You've shed a new light on it. One I could never have thought of on my own. While you were off in search of Ryou, I felt emptier than I ever had before. I realized that I needed you. I still need you. I love you, Namu."

-----

"How'd it go?"

Mariku looked up at his partner. He had just returned from the bathroom, feeling better than he had in the last few hours. He smiled. "It went rather well."

Bakura nodded approvingly. He didn't like seeing Mariku so wound up over a boy. Not that he thought of Malik as just a boy, but at the moment he had no other word for him. "Where is the little minx anyway?"

Mariku opened his mouth to answer, but realized that he himself didn't know. "Did he not come back in here?"

"If he did, he must have been sneaky as hell."

Ryou bit his lip. "Atemu isn't in here either."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Unbelievable." But he still couldn't help the grin that came with the word.

Mariku looked at the door. He had a feeling that Malik and Atemu wouldn't be back for a while. He avoided Ryou's sympathetic gaze by letting his eyes roam. They happened to fall upon Seth.

-----

Malik's eyes widened. He shook his head. He opened his mouth as if searching for words, but only a small laugh came. But seeing the look on Atemu's face made him find his voice. "Atemu, you barely know me-"

"I know that." Atemu said, cutting him off. He took Namu's hands in his own and held them tight. "But I know I love you. You intrigue me so much. I feel like there's an entire world inside you, and I want to explore it all. Don't you feel it, too? I knew when Ptolemy brought you, there was something special."

Malik allowed himself to blush. "Your people would never approve. Atemu, if someone finds out, you'll lose your position as pharaoh!"

"I don't care!" His eyes flashed avidly, almost frightening Malik. The grip of his hands became stronger. "Namu, don't you get it? I love you! I don't care about being pharaoh; Seth can take over for all I care!"

-----

For whatever reason, Mariku began walking toward Seth. He wasn't stupid enough to hurt Seth, but he wanted to find out exactly where this guy stood.

Seth noticed Madani coming over. What could he want? Examining him, Seth noticed that Namu's father looked much younger than he was. He looked extremely younger.

-----

Atemu was surprising Malik with his determination. He stood up. "Atemu, you're a good man. Your kingdom needs you. I can't you allow you to let them down. Seth isn't half the man you are!"

The said pharaoh stood as well. "It doesn't matter, Namu."

"Malik."

Atemu looked at him in a puzzled way.

Malik smiled. "Call me Malik. It's my middle name. I don't tell it to many people."

Atemu slowly returned the smile. But it was followed by a frown. "Malik, I couldn't care less about Egypt. I'm tired of the weight that's constantly over my shoulders." He began pacing. "I'm always under so much pressure. Even when I was a child, I always had more discipline than my closest of friends. I grew up with all the high priests. They helped ease the guilt when I did something wrong. But you, Malik."

He turned, his jewelry gleaming and eyes shining with brilliance. Malik stared in almost awe. Atemu was really the image of true power, of real authority. Not because he thought with his head, but with his heart. He always put his subjects before himself. They wouldn't last under Seth's rule for very long after having, for the most part, comfort for the last nineteen years.

He continued. "You, Malik, take all those thoughts away. I can relax when you're around. Just seeing you makes my day." His words were accented by his smile, which was happy, but at the same time painful.

Malik couldn't stand it any longer. He shamefully broke eye contact.

-----

"Seth, is it?"

Seth nodded at the acknowledgement. "Can I help you, Mr. Ishtal?" He was a cocky priest, but not ignorant. He knew when to give respect when it was due.

Mariku narrowed his eyes, glad he wasn't drunk so he wouldn't do something he would later regret. "Yes, you can. You could help me by informing me about just why my son was speaking with you earlier."

Seth chuckled, but was cut short by the elder's glare. His eyes were near to being murderous. He must be a homophobe. So this wasn't the first time Namu had made his father worry about his son's sexuality?

"We were just talking, Mr. Ishtal. Is there a problem with that?" He stared right back at Madani. There was more than one intimidating person in this palace.

Mariku gave a look like when you say something and your friend makes it literal just to make you mad. "With talking, no, there's not a problem. It's what talking leads to that makes me worry. I just want to make sure that you know where your boundaries lie."

Seth just smirked. "You don't have to worry, sir. Your son is handsome, but I'm not into guys."

"Dear?" A small voice called.

They turned to see Mrs. Ishtal, looking quite nervous and small in her modest dress. "Are you coming?"

Mariku knew that Bakura must have sent Ryou, but he gave in. "Yes, Haniya. I'm coming." He hooked arms with Ryou and began walking away. But just as a precaution, he turned his head to the side and said to Seth, "Remember your boundaries lie, priest."

-----

They just stood there. Both were apparently waiting for the other to say something. After a while, it was Malik.

He kept looking at the ground, the ceiling, anywhere but Atemu's face. "There's just…so much against this, against us. Maybe that's a sign that we were just meant to play by the rules."

At that Atemu couldn't hold back any longer. He confidently strode up to Malik and grasped his jaw, making the boy look at him. His features were so beautiful, so inviting. His lips seemed to call, though they made to effort to move. Malik's eyes were scared, which was understandable. Atemu was scared too; what they were doing was against everything he had been taught, yet any moment with the blonde made him forget everything he was ever told before.

"The rules," He let himself barely chuckle, his breath warm on Malik's mouth, "can kiss my ass." And at last, those lips were finally his.

-----

Bakura had convinced Mariku to go to bed with Ryou. He would stay and watch out for Malik or the pharaoh, while keeping an eye on Seth as well.

Mariku had reluctantly given in, arguing with Bakura for at least ten minutes.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, which he could do since Ryou had brushed it while they were getting ready. He sighed and smiled. Ryou was a much more low maintenance person than Malik.

Bakura had been sitting at the table for about fifteen minutes when Isis walked over. She had to tap his shoulder since he was falling asleep on the job. "What are you still doing here? It's late. Why don't you go to bed with Namu?"

The thief smirked at her lack of knowledge. "Our dear Namu is currently with our even dearer pharaoh."

She frowned. She thought Atemu had gone to bed too. Apparently he didn't go to bed alone. "What are they doing?"

Bakura shrugged. "Use your imagination. I think he's finally pouring his pathetic heart out to little miss feminine."

Her frown hardened. She knew Atemu would finally make his move sooner or later. But she had never talked with Malik about how to handle it. She could only hope that he was doing it well. "I suppose we'll see. Just the same, you may go, Ryou. Namu may come back to your room soon and I think someone should be there just in case anything were wrong."

He yawned as he stood up. "I can do that. See ya, Isis."

"Good night, Ryou."

She watched as he walked to the door, and then was gone from her view.

-----

The world didn't explode. Atemu wasn't set onto scolding flames. Malik was still there, still ok. And Atemu's mouth was still against his.

Atemu pressed harder, looking for a reaction. Slowly Malik responded, oh so shyly. He smiled and pulled the blonde closer, deepening the kiss. He felt like he had been waiting so long for this. To tell Malik. To not care about anything but what he felt, although he knew he was being selfish. But he had given Egypt nineteen years already, how many more before he was going to break down anyway?

Suddenly the warmth was gone.

"I don't think I can do this." Malik breathed out.

Atemu smirked. "I think you can." He said simply before kissing Malik again, this time more urgently. He could tell he surprised Malik with his persistence, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was their being together. Yet Malik broke away again.

Malik's insides were being eaten alive with emotion. He would have to find another way besides this. He owed it to Mariku. "I can't do this, Atemu." He put his head against Atemu's eyes, his violet orbs pleading with the pharaoh.

This only made Atemu frown. Was Malik just leading him on after all this? Couldn't he see that Atemu was willing to risk everything for the sake of love? He would make him see. Malik would understand their love as well as Atemu did.

"_Yes_, you _can_, Malik." His harsh kiss accented this statement. He bit Malik's lip, ignoring the small squeak and forcing entry into uncharted territory. But it was soon searched after a matter of seconds.

Malik thought his lips would bruise by the force, he could already feel a trail of red liquid trickle from it, and Atemu's hand around his head wasn't helping anything.

Even if he only had this one night, Atemu planned on making it worth while. If Malik hated him after everything, it would be worth it tonight. That was part of making this secret so much fun. His and Malik's secret night. Tonight he would convince Malik to see what could be-whether it was with or without words.

That's what he told himself as he pushed the blonde on the bed and crawled over him. He was the pharaoh, and as such he would stay in control, just like he was taught so many times before.

-----

Bakura tossed and twirled in the bed. What was Malik doing? Whatever it was, he needed to hurry the hell up because it wouldn't be long before he got up and made them hurry himself.

Well, he would most likely not be doing that anytime soon. It was the thought that counts.

-----

Malik, meanwhile, was close to panicking, and at the same time trying hard to go with it, because what else could he do? Refuse the _pharaoh_? But he had been such a calm, gentle pharaoh, not like the one over him now. This new Atemu was definitely different.

Everything was going so fast. His arms bands were gone, followed by his shirt. His necklace seemed to have disappeared as well. Atemu's warm skin slid along his, his fingers scratching up and down Malik's back, making him obediently arch up to the pharaoh.

Atemu had seen Malik shirtless plenty of times before. But now that Malik was his, it made his body all the more appealing. He glanced at the blonde's face. He still didn't seem to understand. That was ok. Atemu would soon open his eyes.

"What are you so afraid of, my love?" He asked softly, eager lips caressing every crevice of Malik's upper body. He tried slowing down, but he was so excited.

Malik remembered resentfully that he had to keep playing Namu. And Namu loved Atemu. "I'm sorry, my pharaoh. (Atemu bit his collar at the term, making Malik gasp) I just thought I would be more prepared for this moment." His hands found themselves tangled in Atemu's hair as he said this.

The pharaoh smiled, gently kissing the boy's forehead. Maybe he did understand. "I'm nervous too. I'm riding on pure instincts with this, Malik. But you'll see, it will all be worth it…"

Malik returned the smile. "In the end, everything will be worth it." He leaned up slightly and formed a lip lock with his false lover, who more than willingly replied.

So Malik did finally get it. He saw what they had; he was able to comprehend it. Atemu was never happier than at that moment. The void in his life had at last been filled, and with the most wonderful boy in all of Egypt. Malik loved him, and Atemu didn't need anymore than that.

Strange warmth flowed through him that was just so pleasant. Atemu wanted to tell everyone, but he knew no one could ever know. That, in the end, would be the hardest part of this relationship. But it would be so worth it. In the end, as his lover had said, everything would be worth it.

-----

Ok, this chapter is finite! Did you just adore it? This is totally my current favorite chapter. Sorry it took a while, so if I don't get another one out in time, let me just go ahead and say this: merry Christmas! I hope you all have a wonderful one. :) And please excuse me if you don't celebrate Christmas, I wish you a very happy holiday and New Year. Bye for now, guys!!!


	15. The Aftermath

Hey guys! I'm finally updating. It would've been sooner actually, but I now have a beat reader! So I'd like to thank and give due credit to TjayMotou! You're a big help and played a part in making this chapter one of my favs. :)

Anyway, I'll answer reviews and get on with the latest part, savvy? Oh, and sorry if you couldn't review for the last chapter cuz of my little preview thingy…Heh…

**AnimeLoverAngel**: It always amuses me to see how much you dislike Atemu every chapter, of course if I was a reader I'd probably be that way too lol!

**Shadowweaver666**: Yay, glad to see that someone dislikes AND feels sorry for Atemu! Cuz that was my intentional…thingy…

**Aleximosaurusmon**: Neko-chan! I still think that's a cute nickname even if you've grown tired of it :) You're too flattering (blush), thank you!

**Mewchoochoo**: Oh, don't worry, it will so get more complicated :) I think so anyway…ponders…

-----

Last time: Strange warmth flowed through him that was just so pleasant. Atemu wanted to tell everyone, but he knew no one could ever know. That, in the end, would be the hardest part of this relationship. But it would be so worth it. In the end, as his lover had said, everything would be worth it.

-----

It was just turning dawn, when the sun began to peeking out from behind the sandy horizon casting it's morning rays against the still cold sand. Bakura snarled as he was still awake, still waiting, regardless of how stressed he felt over this whole thing sleep seemed to be impossible, besides, Mariku would not let him go to sleep anyways... how many times Mariku had come by to see if Malik was there? Bakura had lost count.

The bedroom door suddenly began opening, but not fast like Mariku had been opening it. It was very slow and quiet, as if someone was trying to sneak inside, not waking anyone in the room. Immediately Bakura knew who was coming in, who finally decided to return, many hours later.

Malik crept through the door, pushing it just enough so that he could get through. Once in the room, he closed it just as quietly. Once that was done, he threw his modern clothes in the floor. Malik felt, no he was exhausted. His body screamed for him to lay down at once. His head felt as if it would explode soon with all the extra mental strain and on top of all that he felt completely and utterly worthless for what he had just done. That feeling would last much longer than the other two. He was very sure of that fact.

Malik was afraid of waking Bakura if he made the bed move too much, and he had no where else to go at the moment, so he leaned against the door and held his head in his hands, willing himself to stay awake.

"Look who finally came back!"

Matted blonde hair shook as Malik's head snapped up at the voice. He stared at the thief with scared eyes. Dammit. He hadn't wanted Bakura to be up when he got back, and by the look on the thief's face... this wasn't going to be pretty.

Bakura gave Malik a one over. He was no longer wearing the same clothes he had on at the party. A quick glance to the floor showed that they were now in a small, messy pile. The blonde now wore a white kilt that Bakura knew was not Malik's. It looked as if Malik's jewelry was simple shoved on hastily, as if just getting it on was an accomplishment. Something was clutched in one hand, but Bakura paid no mind to that.

He came right up to Malik to look even closer. The tan body was still sweat slicked, and Bakura could already assume the cause. He reached out a hand to touch Malik's cheek, but the blonde turned his head to the side.

"Please don't touch me."

His voice was so choked up. It sounded like Malik was going to break down any second. And that made Bakura furious. Who was Malik to be upset after knowingly betraying his lover, after fucking someone else!? He would do this to Mariku and then expect pity afterwards? Well he wasn't going to get it from Bakura.

Instead of following Malik's request, Bakura waited until he had turned his head forward again before back handing him. Malik gasped as his head once again turned to the side, but this time by force. He made no more reaction, angering Bakura further.

He leaned forward until he was right next to Malik's ear, and then let his emotions fly in a heated whisper.

"Who the _hell_ do you think you are, Malik Ishtar? Just who the _fuck _do you think you are? Do you _honestly_ think you can just waltz in Mariku's life and then _toy_ with his feelings? I've known Mariku since he was thirteen, that's _seven fucking years, _Ishtar. You know how many times he's opened his heart to anyone before in that amount of time? _Just once, _and that's with_ you_. Then you go and _fuck _the person he hates most. _You fucking little slut. You **fucking little slut! **_(Bakura punched the wall as he said this, making Malik almost whimper)

"I don't know why _anyone_ puts up with you. All you do is complain, whine, and fuck people. _Virgin my fucking ass_. Well, you're not anymore, are you? Do you enjoy doing what you're good at, Malik? Is being a _whore _fun? I hope so, because that's _all_ you will ever be to anyone. Not everyone will always take pity on you, Ishtar. I sure as _hell_ won't now."

He paused, waiting for the fire in Malik to lash out and defend himself. Malik did nothing. He kept his head turned to the side, doing his best to keep standing very still. Bakura could even catch a whiff of the pharaoh on him. And Malik's silence wasn't helping his temper. He sighed out of agitation.

"_Say_ something, Ishtar. Tell me how _good_ it felt to bed Atemu. I bet it was awesome, after all, you were there for _hours_." Bakura felt the need to shout, and not being able to do so just annoyed him to no end.

"You are _so_ fucking lucky I have to be quiet. You should go _thank_ everyone in the rooms of this hall for keeping me quiet. But why are you being so quiet? Are you thinking about the pharaoh? Do you miss him? Or is it that no good priest that's filling your head? Don't worry, little Ishtar, I'm sure they _all_ miss you too. Or, rather, your body."

Still, Malik didn't defend himself. If anything his head was bent lower, facing the floor. He had his arms wrapped around himself in a seemingly desperate attempt to keep Bakura away.

Then, with the smallest of voices, Malik said something. Bakura couldn't hear him, "Speak a little louder... _slut!_" The last part of his sentence was uttered under his breath, but came out a little louder then he had wanted.

He heard Malik take a breath before repeating, hardly louder than before, "You're right. I'm sorry."

The thief didn't believe what he was hearing. He grabbed Malik's chin and forced him to look up. Although it was very dark, he could see that the boy was silently crying. His eyes were glazed over and the clear liquid seemed to know no end as it streamed down his face.

Bakura wasn't expecting this. He wasn't expecting to feel so guilty either. Had Malik put a spell on him now, too? He took a step back from the boy, suddenly feeling a bit claustrophobic.

That was when the bed room door burst open, sending the pair to the floor in a suggestive pose. Mariku came in and just stared at them for a moment as he processed the scene. "Oh…my Ra…"

That's when Bakura realized what his partner was thinking and roughly shoved Malik away from him. He stood up, brushing himself off in an almost insulting way to Malik. "You're a fucking moron if you even think about taking that accusation any further."

Mariku closed his eyes to clear his head and nodded, feeling foolish for even thinking something like that. He looked in the spot Malik had been after being pushed, but he wasn't there. He wasn't far, though, he had only gone over to the foot of the bed and was now sitting with his knees up and his head buried in his lap.

The blonde thief gave his partner a look that told him to go and give them privacy. Bakura obliged and left for Ryou's room, silently shutting the door behind him.

Mariku walked to his lover and crouched down. He didn't know what to think or how to react. He was tired from waiting and pacing, and really just wanted to go to bed. It was very obvious about what had gone on the past few hours. While Malik didn't appear hurt physically, Mariku still couldn't see all of him.

He touched Malik's hand. Malik cringed and pulled away. Mariku couldn't help but to sigh. "Malik, please look at me."

After a few moments Malik's head slowly obeyed. "I'm so sorry, Mariku." Malik managed to apologize between sobs and tear-ridden break downs.

Mariku shook his head. "It's not your fault, baby…" He wasn't sure where the 'baby' had come from, but right now he wasn't going to dwell on it.

Malik nodded his head, he crossed his arms over his knees and rested his chin on his forearms, "But it _is _my fault, Mariku. I could've stopped what happened, and I didn't. I was a coward and chose the easy way. I made myself a slut. A cheap whore. A…" Malik couldn't think of another synonym as his mouth tried forming any shape of a syllable. "You must hate me... I do." He finished softly, looking into space.

Mariku frowned. "Did Bakura put any of this in your head?" He knew the answer when Malik didn't respond and a fresh glaze swept over his eyes. "Malik…You're not a slut, and I could never hate you."

"I don't deserve your love, either way." Emotion filled eyes gazed at Mariku with both a look of questioning and pleading, and somewhere lost in the violet depths was fear and shame.

"Malik, you deserve every bit of my love. Don't listen to Bakura." He said a bit more sternly. He moved himself closer to his emotional lover, he reached out to Malik again, but stopped himself, for what reason he didn't know.

Malik still shook his head. "Bakura is right, though."

Mariku sighed and reached out again to touch his hair, but instead Malik held his hand out for him to take something. He put his hand under Malik's, who dropped a small object into it.

Taking it, Mariku saw that it was the necklace he had given Malik. But the gem was broken into two pieces. He couldn't help but laugh, which was a strange contrast to the current mood of everyone. "Did you think this would make me angry?"

Malik only looked back at him, confused. Yes, he did think Mariku would be upset, even if only a little bit. Did it mean nothing to him after all? Just a trinket whose only purpose was to woo Malik?

Mariku laughed more at the smaller boy's expression. He scoot over and wrapped an arm around Malik's shoulders, holding the necklace with the other hand for them both to see.

"Malik, this is only a material possession. Love means so much more than this. Yes, I did give it to you because I thought you would enjoy it, and therefore wanted you to have it. But not as much as I wanted you to have my heart."

Sighing, he let his forehead lean against the side of his lover's head, who was still focused on the necklace. His voice then dropped to a weary whisper as he took in the scent that was currently Malik. "You have it, Malik. Every piece. All I can hope for is that I have yours." He allowed the piece of jewelry to fall from his had and on the floor to show that he meant his words.

Malik watched as it went down the short distance and landed on the floor with a small clang. Then he leaned into the welcoming embrace. "You have my heart, Mariku. You always will. I'm just," He paused to chuckle, "sorry for making you put up with so much."

Mariku smiled and kissed his forehead. "Don't be. Love was never meant to be easy for everyone. The most I have to put up with is a little competition." He smirked and gave a light squeeze to Malik's shoulder.

Malik blushed at that. He turned his head so their foreheads were finally touching. "You always make me feel so vulnerable…so exposed."

"Is that a bad thing?" The other asked, keeping intense eye contact with his little look alike. At the same time, he brought his lips a little closer.

The younger gave a slight shake of his head. "No…I like it." He whispered with eyes only half lidded, before their lips touched lightly. His brows furrowed in confusion as his eyes fluttered shut. He wanted to show Mariku how much he cared. There just seemed to be nothing he could do, and it stroked him as peculiar that Mariku would even want to kiss him, when not even hours before he had been doing so much more with another man.

Mariku gently kissed Malik, bringing his hand to the messy locks that were his lover's hair and softly massaged his scalp. He noticed, with a small pang in his chest, that Malik's hair was still damp from…previous activities.

He knew what Malik had done. He knew what Atemu had done, and a rough idea of what Bakura had said minutes earlier. But everything that had led to this moment didn't seem to matter right now. Yes, he was pissed when he came in, but after his partner left and they were alone, Malik just seemed so… pitiful. Mariku didn't have the heart to be the brutal person he had intended to. Malik was defenseless and in need of someone who would help to pick him back up and Mariku was more than willing to be that someone.

Malik softly purred in appreciation of the massage, it was so very comforting; so was the kiss, until both boys needed air, nevertheless, Mariku only allowed himself to pull away maybe an inch.

Malik and Mariku flourished in the moment. It was real, with nothing hidden and nothing to hide. Each could practically feel the emotions radiating from the other in the dark night, each could tell how tired the other was as they kept eye contact again, but this time in a more relaxed way.

Mariku began to silently place feather light kisses along Malik's head, then lowering to lick and nip at his throat. "I love you…"

"I love you too…" Malik sighed and his eyes closed once more. "That feels…really nice." He moaned out, barely audible. Anything said too loudly would have simply ruin the moment.

Mariku, who also had yet to stopped his hand, gave a small grin as the boy's head turned to make his skin more accessible. "My hand, or my mouth?"

Malik emitted an unseen blush. "...both."

-----

"Mr. Ishtal!" Tea cheerfully went up to Mariku, her beaming self floating gaily through the palace the next morning, she came to a stop at his left and her smile brightened.

Mariku chuckled. The girl seriously needed a clue. But he smiled and turned to face her none the less. "Yes, princess?" He pushed forward an attitude and persona that wasn't even close to the mood he was in this morning. While things with Malik had ended differently then he had expected, he was still angry... but now more that the pharaoh, who was no more then half a room away.

She smiled obliviously, unaware that he wasn't even focused on her, nor the fact he was looking to her right. "I must leave in a few minutes and go back to Nubia. I was wondering if I might tell Namu good bye?"

He shook his head, the smile not leaving. "I'm sorry, Namu is still in bed. He has a big head ache from last night's events. But if you wish, I will tell him for you."

Her expression changed from obliviously happy to stupidly happy. "That would be amazing! Thank you, Mr. Ishtal!"

He gagged when she hugged him the next moment, silently thanking Ra that she couldn't see his face. She then ran off to tell someone else good bye. She actually reminded Mariku of a dumber version of Nathifa.

He was a bit relieved today since many of the guests were finally leaving. Only a few were remaining until tomorrow, and all of them were staying in a different hall.

Bakura sauntered over to him in their little corner, he was careful about what he said, he was well aware that Mariku had a decent idea of what he had said to Malik last night. "Doesn't it feel fantastic? We can be as loud as we want again."

His blonde partner grinned. "Well, loud_er_. I'm more relieved that Namu's extra admirers are finally leaving," Mariku paused and looked around, he noticed that Ryou wasn't with Bakura. "Where is Ryou?" His gaze locked with Bakura's, but the white haired thief looked away.

Bakura shrugged. "He said he wanted to talk to Namu alone." His slight frown didn't pass by Mariku.

"Speaking of Namu, what exactly did you say to him last night?"

Bakura sighed, he thought this would come up sometime, however he was unsure of how his friend out take it, so he worded it carefully. "I simply put him in his place. Though I doubt he'll listen, that kid is way too stubborn for his own good."

Mariku frowned. He didn't want Malik thinking he was a slut. He was still in bed because he was still a bit torn up about last night, not because he had a head ache. They hadn't gone any farther than their cuddling; Bakura made sure to interrupt before that would happen, it was probably for the best anyway. Malik was already stressed because of the pharaoh, and the two of them screwing immediately afterwards would only add to it.

Speaking of which, "Did you have to be so hard on him?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. And how can you say that? You should be angry with him, not at me." Bakura hissed defensively, crossing his arms over his chest and narrowing his eyes coldly.

"You're right; _I_ have the right to be angry with him, _you _don't. He's trying to make everything work out as well as he can. You can't keep comparing him to Ryou, _Ryou_."

Bakura put his hands on his hips in an oddly woman like way. He couldn't believe Mariku was actually scolding him! "Well excuse me for trying to be helpful, _father_."

The blonde just looked at Bakura as if he were a complete idiot. "Do you honestly think that convincing Namu of being a slut will help anything? And doesn't that make you kind of a hypocrite, Mr. Man whore?"

-----

The sun was too bright. Why was it always so happy and shiny? Everything seemed to mock Malik this morning. He sighed heavily. He felt dirty, although he had just taken a bath. A coat of imperfection that could never be returned hung over him.

All of Mariku's sweet words seemed to have been erased while he was sleeping. Bakura was right again. He was such a little whore! He should've tried harder last night, he could've thought of something, anything to get out of doing what he did.

The best part was, of course, when it was finally over.

-----Flashback-----

Both were breathing deeply with hot and sweaty bodies next to each other. Both were in love but not with the other person.

Atemu grinned and pushed the stray bangs from Malik's face. "I love you."

Malik was only able to half return it. "I know. I should go before my family worries too much."

While he knew that Malik was right, Atemu didn't want his lover to go so soon. "Very well, Malik, I'll see you soon. You may borrow something of mine if your clothes are too hot."

Malik simply nodded and stood up, not liking the fact that Atemu lazily watched as he went. He would have gone proudly, but remembered that what they just did was supposedly willing on both parts. How would it look if he walked out arrogantly? He threw on some random clothing, picked up his own, and started toward the door.

As he was turning the knob, though, Malik suddenly remembered his necklace. Quickly scanning the floor near the bed, he saw something shining on the floor. Ignoring the pharaoh's confusion, he went over and picked the piece of jewelry up, gritting his teeth at the somewhat familiar pain in his back area.

Upon further inspection, Malik could see that the gem was only half there.

Atemu was sitting up now. "Are you looking for something, Malik?"

Malik was tired, but a hint of anger still flared up in him. "Yes, the other half of my necklace that must have broken off last night." Emphasis accompanied every word, but apparently Atemu wasn't good at taking hints.

He simply yawned and said, "I'm sorry. Was it important?" It was obvious he didn't care whether Malik had merely bought it or had hand made it himself.

'_It was just a **little** important. Maybe if you hadn't been so worried about getting into my pants, it would still be whole.'_

The blonde opened his mouth to snap at Atemu, but he really couldn't say something like 'my boyfriend made that for me!' He glared as much as he could get away with. "A very good friend gave this to me." Eying the other half, Malik snatched it up.

Atemu frowned at this. He held out his hand for it, but Malik held it out in his hand. He would let Atemu look at it, but like hell he would let him touch the item again. The pharaoh leaned forward and inspected it with his eyes.

"That's easily replaceable." He said when he pulled back again. The next moment he allowed himself to fall back on the bed in an exhausted manner.

Malik rolled his eyes and walked to the door again. "I don't want it replaced." He said before closing the door behind him, just a bit harder than necessary.

-----Present-----

The said blonde grinned at his own weakness. Almost as soon as he shut Atemu's door, his inner anger had left him as well. Exhaustion had once again consumed his body and mind on his way back to the bed room. He couldn't think of one thing to say to Bakura when he, for the first time, actually attacked Malik while meaning what he said.

'_All I could do was keep agreeing with him. I think I still agree with him. No matter what Mariku says, I don't deserve him.'_ The blonde thought sadly. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"Hey."

Malik turned around to see Ryou smiling at him. He sighed and gave a small smile back. "I don't deserve you either, Ryou."

Ryou's smile widened as he walked over to his blonde friend. "I know that. So are you going to tell me what happened last night or do I have to keep waiting?"

-----

"That's different." Bakura said, not without a small glare.

Mariku laughed. "You're _so_ fucking full of it! How the _hell_ is that any different?"

A passing servant glanced over at the sudden out burst. Both thieves ignored him.

"The difference is," Bakura started, "that all of those people didn't matter. I was never in _love_ with any of them!"

"Aw, Bakura." Mariku said a bit too sweetly. He cupped Bakura's cheek with one hand, who became uneasy. "Have you already forgotten-"

Bakura smacked his hand away in annoyance as he narrowed his eyes. "Don't you _dare_ try to bring that up. That was four years ago, and I was drunk. Besides, don't go acting like you resisted everything, _Madani_."

"It's not like I was exactly the most sober person either. My body wasn't giving me a choice, just like yours." Mariku reminded him.

Bakura couldn't think of a response, so he simply chose to not use one. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, keeping his eyes on the ground.

At his partner's silence, Mariku sighed heavily. "I guess we'll never know what exactly happened that night. So let's just drop it."

-----

Ryou listened in a polite silence. He didn't interrupt; but his thoughts of particular points in the story were given away by his facial expressions. When Malik finally finished telling his very detailed encounter, Ryou just nodded his head a few times.

Malik nodded his head to mock Ryou. "Well?"

Ryou smiled again. Malik was so impatient. "Well what?"

Malik just gave him a look. "I don't know, maybe a response?" He knew Ryou slowed things down on purpose.

Ryou shrugged. "What do you want me to say?" He really didn't know what Malik was expecting of him.

"You're not mad or anything?" Bakura had to say something to Ryou. "Did your thief not start venting when he came in last night?"

Ryou blushed. "He seemed a bit…angry…but since when did you care what Bakura thought anyway?"

"I don't! That's why I'm asking you!" Malik knocked lightly on Ryou's head. "Are you sure Bakura's stupidity didn't rub off on you?"

Ryou stuck his tongue out. "Ha-ha, very funny. Just what exactly are you asking me?"

Malik's mouth opened, but absolutely nothing came out. He instead looked out the window again.

Guessing that the sun wasn't going to send any answers to Malik, Ryou decided to help him. "Look, Malik, if you're asking if my opinion of you has changed because of last night, then the answer is no. I don't think you're a slut or a whore, despite what Bakura may say. You simply played the part, something I don't think I could do. You did what you had to, and now we're one step closer to Japan. In other words, ya done good."

Ryou's words flowed with sincerity. "Just don't make sleeping around a regular habit and I think you'll be fine."

Malik grinned. Ryou was such a good friend. "You always know how to put my thoughts into words. Mariku and Isis are really the only other two."

The younger smiled. "It's a gift. Treasure it." He glanced outside, smiling even more at the sun light. "We should get back to our guys. Do you wanna come out yet?"

He noticed the blonde give an involuntary shudder, but Malik nodded anyway. He put a hand on the other's shoulder. "Don't worry so much, Malik. Only a few people know of what happened, and no one hates you for it."

At his skeptical face Ryou merely added, "Bakura doesn't count."

-----

Walking down the hall ways, Ryou glanced at all the hieroglyphics. "You can read this?" He finally asked Malik in awe.

Malik regarded the language with boredom. "Yeah, it was part of my studying to become a tomb keeper."

"Sometimes, I wish I was a tomb keeper."

Malik shook his head. "I would say that I wish you were too, but that would make me a bad friend. So I'll just say that you don't."

Ryou would absolutely love to learn more about this place. He wasn't allowed to even try get as much as possible out of this trip. If only they could take something back, something to remind them of their time here.

"It's kind of funny." Malik started, "We own some of the most valuable items in history, and we never even thought about it because we've had them for so long."

Ryou frowned. "What would those be?"

Malik shook his head. "The millennium items, mother!"

"Oh yeah." The albino said a bit sheepishly. They really did take that for granted. The items were truly very valuable, but Ryou wouldn't want to ever give up the ring.

"Where are our guys, anyway?" the blonde asked aloud.

"Oh, they're in the main hall I think. I'm not sure though." Ryou frowned. "I guess they could've left there by now."

Malik suddenly acquired a twinkle in his eyes. "Well, since you don't know for sure, I'm going outside. I saw Isis out by the pond and I need to tell her what happened. Say hi to the boys for me?"

Ryou was obviously not getting any say in this, since Malik immediately walked in the other direction, not waiting for an answer.

-----

The thieves watched as the guests left one by one. It seemed that no one would leave without first having a last word with Atemu.

Bakura huffed. "I'm bored of watching the pharaoh tell people bye. Where is Ryou?"

Mariku shrugged. "Do I look like his mother?"

Bakura pretended to contemplate this as he looked the other over. "No, I think you look more like his husband."

Mariku growled in annoyance as Bakura chuckled at his own comment.

From across the room, neither thief noticed as a certain priest suspiciously eyed the two. Why would a father and his step son seem to have such a close bond? One would think that Madani would rather talk to his son or Ryou to his mother.

He was very curious as to find just what Namu was planning. Obviously, he would need to somehow get Atemu out of the way before Seth could become pharaoh. And he needed Seth's rod to do it. He would like to get the boy alone and find out exactly what was going on. What did Namu get out of this, anyway? He gained nothing unless he convinced Seth on letting him stay.

The brunette smirked. He would certainly allow the blonde to remain in the palace, as long as they shared the same bedroom whenever asked. He was very proud of himself for freaking the boy out with that kiss, especially since his entire family was watching. He wouldn't want them to get the wrong idea. Then again, the wrong idea would be the right idea, so never mind.

Madani was a bit too bold, though. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree after all. He may need to be dealt with so he wouldn't step out of line with the new pharaoh. As for boundaries, Madani could take those and shove them right up his-

"Seth!" Longer brown hair swished in front of him as the person said his name.

Looking up from his thoughts, Seth found the person to be only Mana. The girl was constantly annoying him whenever she was given an excuse, and now would most likely be no different.

"I see you haven't changed since our last talk." He commented dryly.

She grinned. "Don't worry, Seth; I'm only here on business." She waved her hand as if to chase previous encounters away. "I was just wondering if you've seen Isis?"

"Come on, Mana, you should know that I don't give a damn about peoples whereabouts."

She shrugged in her usual cheery way. "Very well, then, I'll ask someone else." With that she seemingly floated away.

-----

"So Atemu screwed me, Bakura was pissed, Mariku and Ryou were forgiving, and I've been through more emotions than a boy should in one night."

Isis smiled from her sitting position under the tree. She was rather glad that he had given her the shortened version of last night. "I'm glad only one person was angry. Are you sure you're alright, though?"

Malik shrugged indifferently. "Last night was a mess, but I think I'm fine now. I just have to look forward to getting out of here." Unlike Isis, Malik preferred lying on his stomach in a sunny spot instead of the shade.

Isis nodded. "Of course I suppose I'll do my best to keep Seth in check when he inherits the throne. That alone worries me!" Her voice sounded more professional than worried.

"It's really not fair for me to do this to you…" Malik's guilt emerged, so he picked random blades of grass as a distraction.

"I already told you, Malik, not to speak such nonsense like that." Eying him with nervousness, she added, "And you're going to get yourself grass stains."

"I'd rather have grass stains than blood…" He mumbled to himself, grinning innocently at his sister's gaze.

-----

Mana glanced about the room in search of anyone who could help. She then noticed the two outlaws in the far corner, and an even more cheerful grin came to her features. Quick as a flash she was standing in front of them. "Hello boys."

Bakura frowned as he looked back and forth from the spot she had been in and where she now stood. "How did you…Whatever."

She put a hand to her mouth and giggled cutely. "It's good to see you too. Do you know where Isis is?"

Mariku shook his head. "Sorry, Mana."

Her smile remained. "It's ok maybe you two would like to join me in my mission to find her? I'm sure our conversation would interest you more than standing here."

Bakura immediately jumped at the offer with a loud 'yes!' while Mariku stayed indifferent to the matter.

As they reached the door, Mana pulled it open and discovered a white haired mother on the other side. "Haniya! Glad you could join us, have you seen Isis by any chance?"

-----

"So why exactly did you ask me to come, Isis?" Mana asked once everyone was settled.

Isis hadn't moved, and Mana sat across from her. The boys filled in the gaps on either side. (this is their order going clockwise: Isis, Malik, Mariku, Mana, Bakura, and Ryou.)

Isis gave a fleeting look towards the palace before turning back to her friend. "I think we need to discuss getting my brother and his…associates back to the era desired. I mean we need to make real plans. Everything is a bit too sketchy right now."

Mana nodded. "I agree! I've already studied the ritual you gave me, but you never filled me in on the missing pieces."

They briefly told her about the millennium items and who would be sealed inside what. She simply nodded again. "And are the current holders willing? Is the sacrifice willing?"

"Yes, all needed items will be present. And our sacrifice should be willing by then."

Mana didn't look as pleased with that answer. "Should be or will be?"

Malik interjected. "Definitely will." _'Because there's no way he gets to screw me and back out of the price…'_

The young girl's happy mood returned. "And you guys know about the blood, right?"

The boys all looked to Isis, who had apparently forgotten to tell them from her 'Oops' expression. "Don't worry; Mana will just need to take a little blood from each of you during the process. It's no big deal!"

Bakura smirked. "Oh! We can deal with that."

Mariku returned it but chose not to respond. Ryou looked slightly nervous who trying to smile at Malik's reassuring one.

The questions that followed were irrelevant to the previous subject. The boys finally went inside and left the girls to their chattering.

-----

The next few days went by rather uneventfully, with the new and fake secret couple spending even more time with one another. The boys constantly worried whether the usual palace residents were suspicious, since all party guests were gone by then. But they didn't need to worry too much. Isis and Shadi were starting to be, bit by bit, more open with their obvious feelings.

Malik had the opinion that while Isis did care for Shadi, she was also doing it to help distract from Atemu's happier than ever behavior. That was something he would have to thank her for later. The pharaoh had apologized for his lack of caring about Malik's necklace, and Malik had bitterly swallowed his huge annoyance and forgiven him.

While all was supposedly right between them, things between Bakura and Malik were still pretty sketchy. It was pretty much an on and off friendship now. Talking one second and arguing the next seemed to be their new style. Mariku and Ryou were beginning to feel more and more like real parents who had to scold their kids, and it was getting very tiring very fast, even though it wasn't very often that all four had alone time with each other.

It had been three days since Atemu's party (the boys had come to simply call this 'that night'). Tonight seemed to be a careful night for Malik and Bakura.

"You need to find a way to convince Atemu of going with our plan." Bakura stated in a way that was neither impatient nor cold. Lately, he had been doing his best to keep Malik from crying in front of Bakura alone, because he wouldn't know how to handle it again. Mariku came to save the day, well, night, well, dawn, well whenever the last time.

Malik sighed. "I know. I've been thinking of that lately." After the pond incident, Malik decided he better not tick Bakura off, because he didn't know what he would do after another rage from the thief. He hated crying in front of him, but he had just been so vulnerable…What was strange to him was that Bakura hadn't used that to taunt him at all. Did he feel bad? Well, he never did say sorry, so Malik couldn't tell.

They lied on the bed, both for whatever reason on their back, completely still. The sight was rather odd. It was as if both were afraid of setting off the other by making any motion.

Bakura suddenly cleared his throat, although softly. Malik turned his head to his left as subtle as he could. Bakura, however, kept his eyes on the ceiling. If it wasn't getting dark, Malik would've sworn that there was a pink tint overtaking Bakura's face.

He was fiddling with something in his hands. Finally Malik was tired of waiting. He cleared his own throat.

Bakura's head kind of snapped, as if forgetting about even getting the other's attention. He held out his hand and quickly dropped the object in question next to Malik's head. Malik nearly dared to laugh aloud at Bakura's unusual behavior, before picking up the item.

After squinting and holding it up to the light of a window, Malik saw what it was.

It was his necklace, or what was the result after its encounters. The gem was still in two halves, but still together. There was an obviously poor attempt at gluing them back together in some way.

Malik smiled, letting a small giggle out, when he suddenly felt the bed shifting as Bakura turned on his side to face away from the blonde. Apparently the thief was either no longer caring about making Malik angry, or was simply too embarrassed to stay on his back where his face was in full view.

Malik's smile grew. This had to be Bakura's way of apologizing. He sighed audibly and let out a meek "Thank you."

Bakura only grunted in response, and Malik was fine with leaving it at that for tonight. The smile never leaving his face, Malik rolled onto his side as well, and he quickly fell asleep in a much happier mood.

-----

Well I hope you guys liked it, thanks for reading! By the way, TjayMotou has to move in a few days so she won't be able to edit my chapter. So if it's not exactly as good as this one, I'm sorry! But I'll try to make it up to standards, ok? Later peeps


	16. Drama never had a better time

Hey guys! If you happened to read my random one shot, you've already seen my apology for taking so long. But thanks for bearing through it with me, and I luv everyone! Muah!

A side note: if you happen to read something in the chapters that seems out of place or you don't remember it, it's probably because I had written a part of a chapter and deleted it, and then forgotten about editing that particular part, savvy?

-----

Last time: Lots of drama happened, if you can remember that far back. Teehee.

Time seemed to stop momentarily as the sound of Akhenaden's harsh foot steps demanded attention from all in the corridor. Servants stopped what they were doing with fright, and even the birds on the window sills had stopped their charming melody.

Of all the high priests, Akhenaden was definitely the one to approach with the most caution. Even Seth paled in comparison when it came to being intimidating, which, for most people, said something.

His expression was one of seriousness if not bordering a frown, although he did give the occasional self satisfied smirk.

Walking through the halls and ignoring the usual terror he seemed to always put in others, Akhenaden soon found himself at his final destination: Seth's room.

-----

"Do you ever think there could be more to life, Malik?" Atemu questioned as he picked a flower from the garden. Atemu could remember being scolded for such an action when he was younger. It seemed so silly now that something as trivial as picking a flower could be such a big deal.

Malik yawned, not feeling fully awake. Atemu had sent a servant to fetch him at the most ungodly hour of the morning, and they had been walking along the outside path ever since.

Atemu smiled as he offered the flower to the other. "You'll have to forgive me for waking you so early; it's just such a perfect morning, and I didn't want to let you miss it." He accented his statement by taking a big whiff of the fresh, clear air and exhaling in a contented manner.

Malik accepted the gift, bringing it closer so that he could smell it. "It's alright. What were you asking earlier?" He questioned absentmindedly, tucking the delicate plant behind his ear.

Atemu observed the boy, blushing when Malik caught his eyes for a moment. "I um…it was…" He struggled for words, smiling in a most embarrassed sort of way. "I was just wondering about life. I mean, is this as good as it ever gets?"

Malik was taken aback at the question. Why would Atemu think his life was incomplete when just miles outside the palace gates there were people laboring just to eat everyday?

Atemu noticed his lover's troubled face and quickly tried correcting the situation. "I'm sorry Malik, now you're upset-I didn't mean it like that, I just was thinking and I-"

Malik listened with great amusement as the mighty Atemu once again stumbled over his words. Before he knew it, he was giggling and holding a hand over his mouth to try and stop himself.

Atemu looked at Malik and sighed in defeat, smiling, but if you looked hard enough you could tell that he was tired. He would have to work harder at saying the right things. "I'm sorry for rambling; you must think me quite boring now."

Malik grinned, finally controlling his laughter. "You should relax more, Atemu." He suggested.

-----

Seth awoke to the sound of rather obnoxious knocking at his door. Sitting up and looking out the window, he saw that it was still very early. Who would be up besides the servants, and more importantly, which would have the audacity to actually come to his room without being called for?

Annoyed and sleepy, the brunette collapsed back onto the bed, willing the noise to go away. Instead, it only became louder as well as faster.

Cursing whatever god was playing with him for their own amusement, Seth reluctantly left the comforting warmth of his bed and made his way to the door.

"This better be pretty damn important." He muttered under his breath, fumbling with the handle a moment before finally opening it and revealing the culprit responsible for waking him.

"Akhenaden?" He said, squinting his eyes as if to make sure it was who he saw. When he didn't disappear, Seth scowled in his normal fashion. "What could you _possibly_ want right now?"

Akhenaden nearly smirked at the disarrayed state he found Seth in, but kept up his harsh stare. "Really, Seth, I expected more from my favorite priest." Ignoring the glare shot at him, Akhenaden moved on to important matters. "I've something to discuss with you, and it's about that boy."

-----

Atemu thought this through. "But the kingdom…There are so many matters that need tending to everyday…If I put it all off, it will only pile up more…"

Malik rolled his eyes. "You're hopeless." He teased.

"Oh, I don't think so," Atemu started, entwining his fingers with Malik's, "I have you now." Leaning over, he placed a quick peck on Malik's cheek.

Malik couldn't bring himself to meet Atemu's loving gaze, so he turned his head to look elsewhere. "You shouldn't do that out here in the open. Someone might see."

Only a soft chuckle was emitted from Atemu's lips, and Malik wondered what he found in Malik that had made him fallen in love. He hadn't led him on; in fact, Atemu had been the one to make almost every move. He wasn't himself around the pharaoh. If he was, would Atemu still feel this way? If Malik really was Namu instead of just playing the part, would he, too, have the same feelings? If he was Namu, would he of even fallen in love with Mariku?

-----

"By 'that boy', I'm assuming you mean Namu."

"Well of course I mean Namu." Akhenaden had begun pacing around the room, slowly, as if doing a silent inspection of the room to make sure he was talking to someone of his standards.

"Well then, spit it out, old man." Seth replied impatiently, brushing his hair quickly before putting on his headdress. He didn't plan to stay disordered for long in the presence of someone who annoyed him even more than Mana or Madani.

"Watch your tongue, boy." The elder spat. It was irritating to know that Seth was one of the few no longer affected by his ruthless manner. Still, he was twice Seth's senor, and Seth _would_ learn to respect him as such.

"I know that this brat is planning something, if only to secure a spot inside the pharaoh's small circle of friends." He paused, making sure the other was listening, "And I know that you're in on it."

Seth secured the sash around his white tunic (alright, when I say tunic from now on, I mean a skirt/kilt thing, savvy?). "I suppose you wouldn't know, would you? Since I am, after all, a high priest, and because I am, I also carry a millennium item." He made sure to meet Akhenaden's eyes as he smirked. He wasn't afraid of the man's questions.

Akhenaden scowled, mentally cursing for Seth being, in some aspects, just like him. "I may not be able to read your mind, Seth, but I can read your body language. You think no one ever watches when you stand to the side, hidden in the shadows. I've seen the way you look at him, the way you-"

A laugh escaped Seth, interrupting the sentence. "You think noticing anything different will prove something, Akhenaden? You think that the way I look at someone is legitimate evidence that I'm secretly plotting some foul, horrendous deed? You're out of your mind, old man."

"You're out of your mind for even tolerating such a worm! Have you lost all common sense for the sight of a pretty face?" Akhenaden said, using all the spite he could muster. "What's in the game for you, Seth? What do you win? Will the boy really need you when all is said and done? Will he come running in your arms, and you'll rule as pharaoh comfortably the rest of your life?"

At this last question, Seth grew noticeably paler, and he knew he'd found what he'd been aiming for. "It's not hard for people to tell that you've been jealous of your younger cousin ever since he was crowned pharaoh, Seth." The said brunette lowered his head slightly, turning his gaze to the floor.

"And it's ok to be." He finished in a softer, gentle tone that was usually foreign to his speech.

Vivid blue eyes snapped back up, brows furrowing in a silent question. That was all that was needed for Akhenaden to know exactly where to strike Seth. Soon, he would be able to make a few plots of his own.

-----

Atemu noticed the other's silence, and squeezed his hand. Malik, startled, looked up, his eyes shining beautifully with curiosity and a deceitful innocence. The pharaoh could not believe what a perfect soul he'd found to share his life with. If Malik hadn't scolded him earlier, he would be tempted to kiss his smooth, tan hand.

Malik would not allow himself to blush as Atemu had managed to keep eye contact. In this day light, he could see the perfect swirl of amethyst and crimson that was in his eyes, a very unusual trait. Maybe that's what made great people, a step out of the ordinary, things needed to set you aside from everyone else.

He suddenly noticed that Atemu kept coming closer, and that they had stopped walking at some point. The blush he had fought now crept from the corners of his cheeks.

But just as Atemu seemed beyond stopping, he shook his head, giving his majesty a stern look. "Atemu, please, someone might see." He said again, taking his hand away to show that he was serious.

Atemu appeared lost for a moment, almost hurt. Malik could find nothing else to do except offer a half smile, and it was with a heavy heart that he turned around and walked back to the palace.

-----

The words would not get out of his head.

For the last hour or so, Seth had been sitting on the steps leading to the throne. He'd never actually sat in Atemu's seat before. Doing so would make him feel fake, an imposter of sorts. Because even though he would most likely feel the rush of authority that comes with the ever lasting presence of ages of dictators before you, he would also most likely remember, in the back of his mind, that the true ruler was out and about.

It was where he felt his life was, always mere inches away from the power he craved, but never given the opportunity to actually obtain it.

And at the moment, Seth had been given many opportunities. It was all he could think about, his and Akhenaden's conversation playing and replaying in his head.

_"In a way, Seth, Atemu stole the throne from you. Had he not been born, you would be the pharaoh. To me, that hardly seems fair at all…"_

He knew it was ridiculous. Atemu wasn't at fault for _being born_, after all. Yet Seth had agreed, relieved at finally having someone who felt it was just as unjust as he did.

_"As if Atemu is a man fit to rule an empire such as this to begin with. He's much too yielding, for my tastes. Perhaps you, Seth, would be the better man."_

It was true. Atemu wouldn't harm a murderer any sooner than he would harm a flower.

_ "You're intelligent, dedicated, but most importantly, driven. You know what you want, any moron could see that, and I know that you would lead this nation with an iron fist."_

Flattery will get you everywhere. Seth knew Akhenaden was sucking up. Under other circumstances, he knew the other wouldn't give a damn whether Seth was content or not. It was just so different hearing those words from somewhere besides his own mind, such a nice contrast.

_"Besides, do you even really know what this boy is up to?"_

No. Namu had kept his intentions quite secret from Seth, with only a possibly empty promise to make him pharaoh. How could he have given in so easily at the first mentioning of power? For all he knew, Namu would take the Rod and run. What would Namu obtain from helping him? What was his angle?

Akhenaden was right about one thing; Seth had fallen for nothing more than a pretty face, with pretty words. If he was to gain control of Egypt, he would do so without help and on his own terms, taking out Namu and his 'family' if need be. Akhenaden had saved him from an incredibly foolish act. Maybe, some day he would thank him. Maybe some day.

"Seth?" A tentative hand tapped his shoulder.

Turning, Seth saw the very creature that had been poisoning his thoughts. "Yes, Namu?" Despite his recent resolution, Seth still couldn't help but notice the concern in the other's eyes, as well as the sadness.

"I just…wanted someone to talk to." Malik said, taking a place beside Seth on the steps.

Seth had planned on walking away, to leave the boy questioning _his _intentions and actions. But he didn't. Instead, he watched as Namu ran a hand through his hair, sighing.

"Can I trust you, Seth?"

This caught the high priest off guard. "I um…I guess that depends." He finally answered.

Malik glanced at Seth's face, taking in that he looked troubled, which was highly unusual for the priest. "Is something wrong?"

His mouth opened to reply, but nothing came out. He was torn between storming off in spite and tossing Akhenaden's words out the window.

"Actually," He began, staring at his hands as he twiddled them, "I've been wondering about you."

"About me?"

Seth rolled his eyes at himself for sounding so stupid. "Yeah, about you, but I'm starting to rethink this deal."

Malik felt a surge of panic rush through him. They couldn't afford to take a step _backwards_; there were still too many to take forward!

Seth noticed the boy's momentary look of worry, and it only proved to make him more curious as to what would go wrong without his cooperation.

The blonde ran a hand through his hair again. "What made you decide to rethink it?"

"I have no idea of what the hell is going on, and you're going to tell me if you still want the Rod." Seth knew he was in control of this situation, and that put him back inside his comfort zone.

Malik couldn't tell Seth the details of their plan without first discussing it with Mariku or Ryou. Bakura was an exception. So he told him the raw truth, looking into those cold blue eyes for effect. "I just want to go home."

Seth frowned. "What do you-"

"Namu?"

They looked over to see Bakura standing a few yards away, a stern stare securely in place, if not a little confused. "You're _father_ is wondering where you ran off to."

Seth chuckled. It was, of course, moments like this that were always interrupted. "You'd best not keep Madani waiting. Tell him hi for me, will you, Billah?"

Bakura's stare slightly faltered, never having been addressed by Seth until then, but he managed a nod before walking away with a blushing Malik.

"I'm not even going to ask about you and Seth."

-----

"Mariku, just lie down. I'm sure they're coming right now."

After half an hour of looking for Malik, Mariku had finally given up and had started ranting about anything and everything that came to his mind in his and Ryou's room. After another fifteen minutes of pacing and ranting, he finally listened to Ryou and lied on the bed on his back, sighing heavily.

"I just wish that boy would quit making me worry so damn much."

"You don't have to fret over me, sweetie." Bakura said sarcastically from the door way, smirking as he came through.

Malik followed him in. "I fairly sure he wasn't talking about you." He said flatly.

Ryou sighed in relief. "You all make me worry."

Bakura, standing in the doorway, couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Well, just so no one worries, I'm going to the dining room. Mariku wouldn't let me eat until I found his tomb keeper."

Someone's stomach growled, and they looked to Ryou, who smiled bashfully. "Um, maybe I'll go with Bakura."

Malik waited until they were gone, and then gave Mariku the biggest grin he could muster. "Hey babe! I really missed you!"

At this Mariku sat up. Malik wouldn't be this happy for nothing. "Either you finally stabbed the pharaoh, or something bad happened."

His grin faltered. "What do you mean? Everything is fine!" He threw his hands up dramatically as he said this.

This time Mariku grinned wryly and fell back onto the bed. "Tell me what screwed up this time."

Malik dropped the obvious charade. "Well, we might have a bit of a problem…"

-----

"He just wants to go home?" Akhenaden repeated, disbelievingly. "That makes no sense. If the boy wants to leave, then he can just leave."

As much as it troubled Seth, he couldn't figure Namu out either. The two things didn't connect. Going home, and making Seth pharaoh. Going home, Seth pharaoh. Home, pharaoh, home pharaoh. It had been a very trying day so far.

But Seth hadn't told Akhenaden the pharaoh part yet. He was still unsure of himself, and giving out too much information could really make things get out of hand.

He took off his head dress; it was suddenly too hot. Maybe, for once, Akhenaden was right in his judgment. Perhaps Namu wasn't one to be trusted. Seth took a deep breath, preparing himself for the scolding that would come for befriending such a boy.

"Namu had promised…that I would be pharaoh."

Akhenaden's ears perked up. This was interesting, and it was exactly the type of information needed to take the brat out. He smiled, although it felt unnatural, and chose his words carefully. "Seth, my boy, how could that brat ever make you pharaoh? Does he hold awesome powers other than the millennium items?"

Seth weakly shook his head, the embarrassment etched into his face. "No, but I just…felt like I could trust him."

"And I'm sure that's what he wanted. Besides, what else could he possibly need? He's managed to secure a comfortable place in the palace and with Atemu."

That wasn't right. "He wants more. Everything here…I don't think it matters to him."

"Well then, why don't you sit and tell me everything that's troubling you. Everything this boy has put into your head, you can share with me." He hoped he didn't sound too eager, and barely suppressed a triumphant laugh when Seth sat beside him at the table. Had he known Seth to be so impressionable, he would've had discussions like this with him much sooner.

-----

Mariku just remained where he was, his eyes closed. Malik almost wondered whether he had fallen asleep, but decided that if he was, he would be more than happy to let him stay.

After a moment though, Mariku said what pretty much summed up his thoughts about their entire situation. "Holy fucking Ra, Malik."

The said blond went over and lied next to the other, leaning over to rest his head on Mariku's chest. "I'm sorry. This was all a mistake, trying to go back. What was I thinking? Everything's going wrong…" Tears stung at his eyes, but Malik didn't want to cry, not now. But dammit, everything was stressing him out!

"Malik, its ok…its fine…" Mariku's voice cracked, which was extremely new for Malik.

He looked up to see that Mariku had turned his head to the side, his eyes barely watering.

Mariku was angry with himself for being weak in front of Malik. He was supposed to be the one to comfort Malik, not the other way around. But seeing Malik on the verge of tears again had somehow set him off.

"Are you ok, Mariku?" Malik asked, forgetting about his own problems.

Mariku glared at the wall. "Yes, Malik, I'm just great. I'm one of the two most wanted criminals, and we're in the fucking palace. I'm always worried about you; Seth doesn't even trust you anymore." The tears nearly fell, but Mariku seemed just as reluctant to let them go as Malik was.

"Bakura and Ryou can do whatever the fuck they want because it wouldn't interfere with the Ra damned pharaoh's happiness. We're trying to get to a place where I have no idea what to expect, but we might not even get there because of being found out, and on top of that I'm constantly trying to keep myself from murdering the pharaoh for taking you without your consent and being a spoiled ass hole for thinking he can just have whatever he wants any time he wants it and of course he has to want the one thing I want to protect and it's just not fucking fair."

He took a deep, slow breath. "It just kinda piles up, you know? But other than that, I'm fine."

Malik felt terrible; he was the one who dragged them all here. "Don't cry habibi…" He murmured, burying his face in the crook of Mariku's neck.

Mariku huffed. "I'm not crying. And habibi is my word."

"Jus like I' yur thin?" Came Malik's muffled words.

But Mariku understood him and smiled. "Yes, just like you're my thing."

"…Ok."

Mariku laughed, enjoying their moment of being alone.

-----

There- he'd done it. Seth had told Akhenaden about everything, that night, his suspicion of Isis and Namu's family, and anything after. He should've felt better; he should've felt relieved at having another hear his side of things. But instead, he felt more like having betrayed than relayed.

Akhenaden gave a final nod. "Thank you, Seth." He suddenly stood up; walking toward the exit of the place they had met, in the library.

This had Seth doing a double take. Was he really walking away so quickly?

"Wait," He called out, catching up to his elder, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to do what's best for everyone, you'll see, Seth." He answered without as much as a glance.

As soon as they were in the hall way Seth spoke in a louder voice. "What are you going to do." He questioned sternly, although not really questioning at all.

Akhenaden rolled his eyes, or rather his eye, and didn't bother replying.

All the sudden Seth grabbed him by the front of his robes and slammed him against the wall harshly.

Akhenaden returned his glare, even though he was now breathless. "Seth, what do you think you're doing?"

Seth wished he could put holes in the man's head just by glaring. Unfortunately, the Rod was lacking in that power. "I'm going to listen as you explain to me where you're going, and what you plan to do when you get there. Then, depending on what your answer is, you just might walk away from this wall without anything broken." He couldn't do anything with the Rod on someone who also possessed an item, but there were always other ways of making your point.

"And just what will you do about anything I say? Tell your cousin?" Akhenaden laughed cruelly at Seth's not-so-well thought out plan. "How will you explain harming a fellow high priest, hmm?"

Ra damn him if he wasn't right about it. What would he say to Atemu? "I hit Akhenaden because he was going to tell on me for secretly conspiring against you. Sorry cousin." Yes, that would work splendidly.

Nonetheless, he was still tired of being kept out of the loop every time something big came along. "I don't care. Atemu would believe my word over yours any day, and he would especially believe Namu over either one of us. So I'll take my chances."

Akhenaden mentally swore, his millennium eye seeming to gleam with an almost hateful shine. He hadn't smooth talked his way all day long to have Seth side with the brat.

-----

"Billah, I'm nervous." Ryou commented.

Bakura took a sip of his water. He and Ryou had finished eating, and had sat in silence for the time being, content with being in the other's presence. "Why?"

"I don't know, don't you feel something? Something bad?" Ryou couldn't place it, but something about today felt strange.

The thief shrugged. "I feel…calm." But maybe that was only because he finally had food in his stomach. And if Ryou said he felt bad, then it was most likely for good reason.

Ryou looked down, feeling foolish.

And Bakura, being the caring person he was, was quick to reassure him. "But if something does happen, I'll protect you."

Ryou blushed, poking at his plate with his fork. "Promise?"

"Of course…mother." Bakura snickered to himself.

Ryou shook his head even though he was amused too. Then his mind drifted back to Mariku and how stressed out he'd been. "Do you think Madani is ok?"

"Of course Madani's ok." Bakura said too surely. "Unless our minx has anything to say about it." He added under his breath.

"What?"

"Oh nothing, you just have an odd taste in friends is all."

"Well, maybe you do too." Ryou grinned at the thought of the two blondes and what havoc they could cause back home.

Mariku, an odd choice for a friend? Nah. "Madani is my best friend." He said softly. In fact, Mariku had really been his only friend for years. Was that fate that made them try and rob the same house the same night? He'd probably never know.

Ryou smiled. "How long have you known him now?"

Bakura thought for a minute, even though he knew it instantly. "Oh, seven years."

Ryou nodded, reaching for his glass when a thought hit him. Mariku and Bakura had known each other for seven years, living in the same house. Together. Alone.

"Billah?"

Bakura looked at him, waiting for him to go on.

Ryou blushed and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Have you and Madani ever…you know…slept together?" It felt like he had to force the last bit out, blushing terribly as he did so.

He noticed that Bakura suddenly looked very uncomfortable. Had they?

"Well," He started, "I'm not sure."

What? Bakura had to actually think about this?

He must have seen Ryou's face, because he had to once again restate himself. "I mean…I don't think so, anyway."

Mariku and Bakura, being lovers. It was so odd to think about, and even worse to imagine. Ryou shuddered. "What do you mean you don't think so?" He spat, wanting to know for sure.

Bakura shrugged sheepishly. "I don't think we did, really. There was just this one time that neither of us are sure about because we were both drunk and just…extremely out of it."

Ryou only stared at him. "So…you might have, but only once." Was Bakura even hearing himself?

"Ok, look…mother. Madani and I have always been just friends, ever since we met." Bakura told him sincerely. "I mean, yeah, seven years is a long time, and I did think about the possibilities of us…you get the picture. But it always seemed…not right. I think of Madani as a brother I guess, and it's really gross to think of your brother that way." Bakura accented it with a shudder of his own.

Ryou nodded. "I get that. Namu and I have never even talked about getting together. It was just weird, and I love him as a friend."

Bakura snorted, crossing his arms. "So what was the minx like at home?"

Ryou sighed. Sometimes he forgot all about home, which was ridiculous because it was the reason they were here in the first place. "Oh, Namu was-is, I dunno, Namu."

-----

"Maybe we should get up."

"Maybe we should stay here."

"They'll be wondering where I am."

"You mean _he'll_ be wondering."

"I guess." Malik sat up, shivering from the new lack of body warmth.

Mariku frowned. "You're so quick to get back to him. Is there a time limit on how long you two can be apart?" He asked nastily.

Malik, who had just stood up, turned back to return the frown, "Why are you doing this?"

Mariku sat up, letting his legs hang on either side of Malik. "Why are you?"

Malik reached forward and ruffled his hair. "Because I love you, you ass hole."

Mariku pouted. "If you loved me, you would stay here."

The younger of the two took a step back, shaking his head. "That's not fair."

"Not many things are." Mariku said smugly. And if not being fair meant Malik would stay with him, he didn't mind. However, he knew Malik was right on this particular subject. "Go to him." He said sarcastically.

Malik smiled. "Do you wanna walk with me?" He offered his hand.

Mariku sulked a few moments before grasping it. "Fine." He grumbled, and they left the room together.

"By the way, Namu…Where did you get that flower?"

-----

In another part of the palace, an enraged brunette still firmly held a body against the wall. Surprisingly, no one had passed through yet, which would make the situation worse.

"You know, Seth," Akhenaden started, "I'm rather disappointed in you. I'd thought it would at least take me a few days to start cracking you and here it's only been a few hours." He chuckled, knowing he was only making the teen that more upset.

Seth gritted his teeth. "You know nothing about me." He hissed.

"Please, I feel like I've learned your entire history today! You should know better than to trust people so easily!"

Seth could only remain glaring; his grip on Akhenaden's robe tightening to what should have been an alarming point.

The older mean kept on. "And how long are you going to keep me here, Seth? How long before someone comes and things get awkward?"

Seth desperately hoped that a god would hear his prayers and strike this man down with something, anything. But once again, he was right. It would do absolutely no good to keep him here. His grip would eventually become loose enough for Akhenaden to escape, his Rod wouldn't help because of the Eye, someone could come any minute, and when the man finally got his free will back, Seth could only expect the worst.

With all those thoughts and more pounding in his head, Seth violently threw Akhenaden to the floor. "Fuck you. You acted like you cared. I can't believe I actually thought…you really cared." He leaned on the wall, silently fuming.

Akhenaden stood up, dusting himself off. "Maybe you should think about that next time, Seth." He said cruelly and then walked away.

Seth stood there, listening to the sound of the foot steps until they were gone. He was so angry with himself; it was ridiculous how blind he'd been. After a few more moments, he stood up straight again. Self pity would have to wait, he told himself as he started running in the opposite direction Akhenaden had gone. Right now, he had to warn Namu.

-----

Sorry if this went rather quickly, I tend to slack off when it comes to the climax part of the story, so I wanted to make sure I didn't. I promise to answer reviews the next chapter. Thank you for reading this! It's so fun writing, you know? And TjayMotou, since this is the first time I'm updating since you moved I decided to not make you have to edit it since you weren't going to anyway. I didn't expect to take quite to long in updating. (Innocent smile) I didn't really edit it either, I'm just happy to have finally written another chapter. I love all my readers and reviewers, you guys rock my socks off. :)


End file.
